Welcome to the Forward‘s coverage of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
Welcome to the Forward‘s coverage of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
Welcome to the Forward‘s coverage of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
Welcome to the Forward‘s coverage of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
The delicious cuisine that normally graces my husband’s family’s Shabbat table can be described as classic Ashkenazi Jewish with French sophistication. My mother-in-law Helene Sommer can produce a heavenly French fruit tart and a mean kosher version of Alsatian choucroute. Little of the Middle East has made it into the Sommer family repertoire, despite the…
Several years ago, a friend invited me to a Shabbat dinner in Brooklyn. When I arrived, I was greeted by a glass of red wine, and lots of friendly, familiar faces. And then I saw it: a huge spread of take-out Chinese food, complete with plastic containers, paper cartons, and piles of napkins. Wait, what?…
The first time I went to my mother-in-law’s apartment in the Bronx, she brought out her famous apple cake to be served with tea at the end of our Shabbat meal. To this day, my husband Allan continues to choose this simple, nostalgic taste of his childhood over any other fancy dessert I prepare. It…
A new British sitcom “Friday Night Dinner,” inspired by Jewish family life, will debut in the UK this evening starring Tamsin Greig of the TV show “Green Wing” and Simon Bird from the teen-comedy “The Inbetweeners.” Continuing the Jewish march to the mainstream in Britain, the show, created and written by Robert Popper, a Bafta-winning…
For my 33rd birthday back in 1992, I received a book from our best friends and frequent dinner partners, a book that changed my life. It was the Hebrew edition of the collected writings of Rabbenu Bahya ben Asher, a 13th-14th century kabbalist and biblical commentator. It included what has become a constant companion over…
We never could decide what (if any) prayers to say, what language to say them in, or what gender pronouns to use. For a stretch of time my “Shabbat crew” was a mish mash of religions (Catholics, atheists, Buddhists, etc) and religiosity (or lack thereof). We were a feisty group of about 15 college students,…
Just before Kiddush on Shabbat, we read the passage from the Torah that mandates rest for the entire household. It’s a bit of a tongue twister as it identifies not only the long list of family members and servants, but also the animals in one’s household, who must be allowed to rest on Shabbat. In…
For most people, the Reading Railroad is a valuable spot on the monopoly board. But Philadelphians will proudly claim it their own. The old terminal, of a 60-mile train line that ran between Philadelphia and Reading (from 1839-1976), has housed The Reading Terminal Market since 1893. Filled with open stalls for butchers, Amish farmers, cheese…
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