כללי

This post provides four different resources to find upcoming cultural events and attractions throughout the country, including festivals, concerts, lectures, comedy shows, art exhibits and more. With the option to

Written by Ashley of  iGoogledIsrael, an online travel guide, restaurant reviewer and events calendar, this article provides a guide to the top five Israeli dishes – falafel, hummus, shwarma, jachnun, and shakshooka –

Created by Arza World, a travel and tourism organization primarily serving the Reform Jewish community, this 2-page Israel-Hebrew dictionary provides a lexicon of basic Hebrew words and phrases to help

This post provides four different resources to find upcoming cultural events and attractions in Haifa, including festivals, concerts, lectures, art exhibits and more. 1. Haifa Tourist Board Festival Page The Haifa

This educational resource by Yaara Salamon-Michaeli from the Kol Ami Jewish Peoplehood Leadership Academy provides sources exploring the significance of the Israel in Jewish tradition.

This educational resource by Yaara Salamon-Michaeli from the Kol Ami Jewish Peoplehood Leadership Academy provides a wide range of resources exploring the intersection of historical memory and Jewish peoplehood, including quotes

This post offers links to all of the fitness centers you need to stay active and fit during your time in Haifa.  1. Haifa Sports Centers Haifa has several major

This post offers information about how you can get set up for Shabbat meals in Haifa. Please note that some are free events at private homes or public centers, while

This post provides several useful maps for visitors to Haifa – an English map presenting local sites and attractions, an English map of the Metronit Light Rail Routes, and a

Created by the Limmud Chavruta Program for Hanukkah, this 4-page long document contains sources that explore the complex concept of unity in Jewish tradition, including traditional Jewish texts, modern quotes, and references

Created by the Limmud Chavruta Program for Hanukkah, this 4-page long document contains eight sources that explore the concept of miracles, including traditional Jewish texts, modern stories, and even the

This post provides four different resources to find upcoming cultural events and attractions in Tel Aviv, including festivals, concerts, lectures, comedy shows, art exhibits and more. 1. Secret Tel Aviv

This post offers information about how you can get set up for Shabbat meals in Tel Aviv. Please note that some are free events at private homes or public centers,

This post offers links to all of the fitness centers you need to stay active and fit during your time in Tel Aviv. 1. Secret Tel Aviv For Secret Tel

Created by the Dan bus company, this map of Tel Aviv highlights sites of interest as well as public transportation routes.  

This post directs you to the websites of several different companies offering regular free walking tours in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The above video from ISRAEL21c features colorful snippets from the Jaffa Flea

Although there is no obligatory uniform apartment rental contract in Israel, this recommended lease agreement was drafted by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality in plain, clear English in order to create

This post presents an intentional prayer for peace in Israel and the world to be recited when lighting the Hanukkah candles. It was written by the late Bonna Devora Haberman,

In this article, Rabbi Debra Orenstein takes us back to the first eight days in the rededicated Temple, trying to imagine the thoughts and emotions that arose when the Jews

Test your knowledge about the history and customs of Hannukah with this fun quiz from ReformJudaism.org. 

This link will take you to an entire website dedicated to teaching children about Hannukah holiday in a fun and interactive way. With holiday guides, videos, recipes, stories, games, and arts

This article contains an interactive map that shows where the events and battles described in the Hannukah story are believed to have occurred and what they look like today.  

This Hannukah booklet contains short pieces of Jewish and universal wisdom for each night of the holiday, the text of the candle-lighting blessings, and the full scripts for two humorous, light-hearted

This educational resource by Yaara Salamon-Michaeli from the Kol Ami Jewish Peoplehood Leadership Academy provides sources exploring the significance of the land of Israel in Jewish tradition.

This poetic prayer by Rabbi Shelly Barnathan asks God to help us connect to the pure essence of our divine soul on Yom Kippur – as both individuals and a

This post offers the 12-page script of a creative play designed to supplement or replace the reading of the Book of Jonah on Yom Kippur afternoon. A novel way to bring out

This thorough lesson plan aims to help students “taste” the ethnic diversity of the Jewish communities in Israel, experience the immense weight and meaning of the Yom Kippur War in Israeli

This poem by Trisha Arlin describes the intensity of the process of repentance and growth of the High Holiday season, focusing on the power of Jewish liturgy and community in transforming these days into

This post offers two guided meditations based on the imagery and spiritual power of the shofar. Designed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur by Ariel Neshama Lee, these healing meditations encourage

This post provides a link to “Havdalah: A Celebration of Difference,” an alternative ceremony written by Rabbi Leila Gal Berner to emphasize the idea of pluralism within the Jewish community.

In this article, Judith Kaplan Eisenstein shares a personal account of her Bat Mitzvah, the first Bat Mitzvah ceremony celebrated in America in 1922. The daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder

This online tool from Chabad.org allows the user to enter his/her birth date and time to determine the date and corresponding Torah portion of his/her Bar/Bat Mitzvah. 

This poetic reading takes the Bar/Bat Mitzvah boy/girl on a journey from the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai until today – the milestone where s/he becomes a Jewish

This descriptive poem in Hebrew and English by Kaila Shabat paints a lovely picture of the festive Shavuot celebrations in the moshavim and kibbutzim of Israel. Often secular and deeply connected to

This article from the Israeli news site Haaretz provides seven different cheesecake recipes, including bake, no-bake, sweet, and savory options. Ashkenazy Jews traditionally eat dairy foods on the holiday of

Click this link to learn more about We Declare, a project inspired by the Israeli Declaration of Independence that unites communities across Israel and the Jewish world in learning and

In this post from Chabad.org, Rabbi Yossi Lew explains why the term “aliyah” is used to describe both being called up to the Torah and moving to Israel. In both

This post presents an original prayer which was written by Rabbi Jill Hammer to be recited by an individual or community at the time that the Torah is lifted or

In this personal article, Lauren Hamburger relays her first experience of being called up to the Torah for an aliyah, a practice that is traditionally reserved for men. The author

This poem by Trisha Arlin is praise for the things between which we separate, as well as the separation itself. Inspired by the Havdalah ceremony that distinguishes between the holiness

This brief post by Rabbi Baruch Davidson outlines the laws, customs and meaning behind the commandment to wash one’s fingertips after eating, prior to reciting the Grace After Meals. Rabbi

This two page PDF document includes a variety of blessings, meditations, teachings and customs to be performed before, during and after eating in order to elevate this seemingly mundane physical

This post presents Shim’on Menachem’s poetic and nuanced translation and interpretation of Psalm 126, which is traditionally recited before the Grace After Meals by Ashkekazi Jews on Shabbat, holidays, and other days

This Hebrew and English text by Ira Tick is a prayer for a peaceful, just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict written for inclusion in the Grace After Meals. While the

This post presents an English adaptation of the traditional Grace After Meals written by Interfaith Workers Justice, an American organization that engages faith communities  as allies in advancing workers’ rights. Composed for

This post suggests a Grace After Meals mediation for gratitude, intention, and blessing, based on two separate verses from Jewish liturgy. The first is a Hebrew verse from the last

This informative article by the late Rabbi Louis Jacobs explains the origins, meaning, and practice of the Priestly Blessing in the synagogue service, which also is part of the blessing

This creative post by Karen Wolfers-Rapaport includes a photographic representation of each verse of Eishet Chayil, along with background information and deeper explanations of the text. It is an interesting resource for

In this poem, Eric S. Kingston explores the concept of a Woman of Valor, focusing on both a woman’s ability to change the world through her actions, as well as her

This artistic interpretation of Eishet Chayil by Roni Pinto features the image of a woman lighting Shabbat candles, made up out of the Hebrew letters of Eishet Chayil. Roni Pinto explores

This poem, meant to be recited by a wife to her husband, was written by Ruth F. Brin as a response to the traditional Eishet Chayil. Whereas the text from

This short lesson plan vaguely outlines a classroom activity for children based on the words of the song “Shalom Aleichem.” This educational resource, posted on the Behrman House website, is an

This ceremony, meant to be performed before drinking the third cup of wine at the Passover seder, encourages people to honor contemporary (mostly American) Jewish “women of valor” who have made

This short post explains why, according to many traditions, the first stanza of “Shalom Aleichem” addresses the “ministering angels” (“malachei hasharet”) while the rest of them address the “angels of

In this article from Israel National News, Netanel Izak relays the personal story of how he met a Guatemalan Christian on a trip to Taiwan who told him that his Church

This thorough article examines the different ways that the word “chayil” is used throughout the Bible, suggesting that gender bias has influenced translators and commentators to understand “chayil” differently when it is

In this detailed, step-by-step guide, Lisa Sacks outlines a way to transform the difficult experience of going on hospice into a meaningful transition for both the patient and his/her loved

This post introduces “MALACHIM Jewish Angel Cards,” each with an image and blessing, created by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner to be used during the ritual singing of “Shalom Aleichem” to welcome the ministering

This original poem by Gila Gevirtz is inspired by the tradition of singing Shalom Aleichem to the ministering angels that come to bless Jewish homes on Friday evening. Gevirtz, a published

In this short meditative practice, June Kozak Kane suggests intentions which one can ponder while performing the ritual hand-washing in order to make this act more meaningful. Although the author

This gluten-free challah recipe is perfect for anyone with a gluten sensitivity who still wants to participate in the ritual of baking and enjoying homemade challah for Shabbat. The article

In this personal story, Sheri Linder describes how she bakes challah each week and sends it in the mail with a bottle of grape juice and candles to each of

This ceremony, meant to be performed before the ritual hand-washing prior to eating bread, encourages people to contemplate issues of race in society, imagine an ideal world, and recognize the

This article suggests that making challah can be a therapeutic, healing ritual for women suffering from miscarriages and infertility. Rabbi Jodie Gordon, a feminist, Reform rabbi and educator, shares her own

This innovative translation of the Ashkenazi Grace After Meals by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the father of the Jewish Renewal movement, brings the English translation to life. Schachter-Shalomi, warmly known as ‘Reb

This excerpt from Marcia Falk‘s “The Book of Blessings” offers a short prayer based on the basic blessings of the Grace After Meals. The Hebrew, English and transliterated texts inspire gratitude