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Entries Tagged as 'Judaism'

Jewish Cemetery in Žilina — Surname

October 1st, 2017 · 2 Comments

  Jewish Cemetery in Žilina, Slovakia Sorted by Surname I visited the very well-kept Žilina cemetery in May 2017.  At the entrance are two framed maps of the cemetery, painstakingly hand drawn to scale, each grave listed with the name found on the headstone.  This document is my transcription of these maps. The cemetery is […]

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Categories: Genealogy · Judaism · Religion & Holidays
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Jewish Cemetery in Žilina — Plot

October 1st, 2017 · 7 Comments

Jewish Cemetery in Žilina, Slovakia Sorted by Location of Grave I visited the very well-kept Žilina cemetery in May 2017.  At the entrance are two framed maps of the cemetery, painstakingly hand drawn to scale, each grave listed with the name found on the headstone.  This document is my transcription of these maps. The cemetery […]

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Categories: Genealogy · Judaism · Religion & Holidays
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Bytča Archives Jewish Records—Microfilm

May 27th, 2017 · 1 Comment

Bytča Archives Jewish Records Sorted by Microfilm Number On a recent trip to Slovakia, my cousins and I visited the Slovakian state archives in Bytča, one of 7 regional archives in the country.  Their paper documents are generally for researching the nobility and other things not relevant to Jewish history.  The main records are on microfilm.  They have […]

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Categories: Genealogy · Judaism · Religion & Holidays
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Bytča Archives Jewish Records—Place

May 27th, 2017 · 13 Comments

Bytča Archives Jewish Records Sorted by Place Name On a recent trip to Slovakia, my cousins and I visited the Slovakian state archives in Bytča, one of 7 regional archives in the country.  Their paper documents are generally for researching the nobility and other things not relevant to Jewish history.  The main records are on microfilm.  They […]

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Categories: Genealogy · Judaism · Religion & Holidays
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D’var Torah for my Bat Mitzvah

June 15th, 2014 · No Comments

This is the drosh, the Torah commentary, I wrote for my Bat Mitzvah on June 14, 2014.  My Torah portion was Sh’lakh L’kha, specifically Numbers 15:14-16. I gave a shorter, and less technical version, at the actual service.  The only changes were to the genetics portion in the beginning (I also did not read anything in boxes). […]

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Categories: Family Life · Genealogy · Judaism · Religion & Holidays · Shabbus · Writings
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Shabbat Service Planning

June 5th, 2014 · No Comments

Sites, books, music, and more For bat mitzvah, bar mitzvah, d’var Torah/drosh, aliyot, services, etc From the adult education class at (the Reconstructionist) Congregation Ner Shalom, Cotati, CA in preparation for our b’nai mitzvah, June 14, 2014 (plus June 28 & July 11) Last updated June 5, 2014 Torah Reading Sh’lakh L’kha (Numbers 13:1 – 15:41) in […]

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Categories: Judaism · Religion & Holidays · Shabbus
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A Shock to the Heart

October 3rd, 2009 · 14 Comments

Riddle: What is harder than taking care of a baby after having major surgery? This will be my last pregnancy update. I was 36 weeks pregnant on Saturday, September 26, 2009.  40 weeks is the “due date” and 37 weeks is considered “full term.”  But 36 weeks is considered safe and close enough to full […]

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Categories: Family Life · Health · High Holy Days · Judaism · Miriam Updates · Pregnancy · Religion & Holidays
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Shabbat Dinner for 20

May 17th, 2009 · 2 Comments

Once a month, our synagogue, Ner Shalom in Cotati, California, holds a family Shabbat dinner.  Sometimes it’s a potluck, other times they order platters from a local restaurant.  A few months ago, I volunteered to do the cooking.  I had two motives here: 1) I love to cook for large groups of people.  Seriously, I […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Grains · Judaism · Main Dishes · Meals & Events · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Shabbus · Vegetable Dishes
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Building a Sukkah (2008)

October 23rd, 2008 · 2 Comments

This year the spirit possessed us and we decided to build a sukkah for the holiday of Sukkot.  We’d done a poor attempt a few years ago but this was the first real one for all of us. Sukkot occurs 5 days after Yom Kippur, in late September or October.  It reminds us of the […]

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Categories: Building · Family Life · House & Home · Judaism · Religion & Holidays · Sukkot
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Cornbread Challah (vegan & gluten-free)

October 18th, 2008 · 3 Comments

We hosted a potluck for Sukkot this year and told everyone we would provide the challah.  The last shabbus potluck we went to had regular challah and Miriam ended up with some symptoms due to cross-contamination from the eggs (part of the ritual is breaking the bread with your hands; while we don’t do that […]

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Categories: Food · Grains · Judaism · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Shabbus
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Gluten-Free Vegan Challah

May 24th, 2008 · 10 Comments

We belong to a Shabbus potluck group that meets every month or two.  Yesterday, it was at our home.  Although Miriam (and I) can’t have gluten, traces aren’t an issue.  Unfortunately, it’s not that way with egg.  Even a little crumb can give her symptoms. Challah is a braided egg bread that plays an important […]

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Categories: Food · Grains · Judaism · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Shabbus
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Passover Seder 2008

May 4th, 2008 · 8 Comments

I’ve hosted a Passover seder at my home every year for the last 20 or so (except for the year my mother died the night before Passover 1996 and the following year, the first with Michael, when Michael and I both had the flu).  Each one has a different mix of people, cultures, familiarity with […]

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Categories: Family Life · Food · Judaism · Meals & Events · Passover · Religion & Holidays
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Horseradish with Beet

May 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Success with horseradish has been extremely variable, both due to variation in the flavor of the unprocessed horseradish roots, and the fact that it is too strong to sniff or taste during preparation to make small modifications. The ones I made for Passover this year were pretty good. I started with two horseradish roots. They […]

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Categories: Dressings & Sauces · Food · Judaism · Passover · Recipes · Religion & Holidays
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Gefilte Fish

May 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Passover 2008: the year of the gefilte fish disaster. This is only the second time we’ve made gefilte (gelfilte, gelfelte, gefelte) fish. The stuff in jars is pretty good (some people hate it but I grew up on and adore the stuff) but every last brand has eggs in it. And pretty much all have […]

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Categories: Food · Judaism · Main Dishes · Passover · Recipes · Religion & Holidays
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Traditional Ashkenazi Charoset

April 28th, 2008 · No Comments

If you ask an Ashkenazi Jew (of Eastern/Central European origin, most American Jews) the recipe for charoset, you will generally get one answer: chopped apples, honey, wine, nuts (walnuts and pecans are popular), and (often) cinnamon. This version is so popular that many Haggadahs list it as such and I’ve had Jews tell me it […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Judaism · Passover · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Spreads & Dips
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