Passover on Huffington Post

Rabbi Shais Taub: Life, Death And Cheesecake: The Truth About Shavuot

2013-05-12T08:17:05Z

You would think people would get excited about mass prophecy, but alas, there's no denying: Passover, the holiday of the Exodus, is way more popular than Shavuos, when we received the Torah. Why is it that we are more attracted to drama than to enlightenment? The solution is cheesecake.

Read more: Golda Meir, Shavuot, Passover, Scripture Study, Scripture Commentary, Chabad, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Life, Jewish Wisdom, Spiritual Development, Judaism, Religion News

Jane Marcus, Ph.D.: Drug Policy: Tipping Into Tikkun

2013-05-08T17:10:34Z

Millennials, with their progressive political leanings, are voting alongside baby boomers, whose past experiences are leading them to question whether we should be following a different path with regard to marijuana.

Read more: Marijuana Policy, Marijuana, Medical Marijuana Policy, Medical Marijuana, Drug War, Marijuana Legalization, Drug Policy, Jewish Faith, Passover, Crime News

Rabbi Shaul Wertheimer: Man-oh-Manischewitz: Passover's Second Chance

2013-04-18T11:40:53Z

This Wednesday, April 24, marks a little-known holiday on the Jewish calendar: Pesach Sheini -- Second Passover. Truth be told, it is a little different that the original holiday.

Read more: Jewish Holidays, Matzah, Pesach, Yiddish, Pesach Sheini, Jewish, Passover, Judaism, Religion News

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg: Wilderness As Transition: Omer, Anxiety And The Neutral Zone

2013-04-15T15:57:25Z

This is the time to sit with the anxiety, the ambiguity and the unknowability of our lives. This is the time to go down deep in to the deepest recesses of who we are, to find resources and riches we didn't know were there.

Read more: Judaism, Counting the Omer, Spiritual Transformation, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Ritual, Sefirat Haomer, Kabbalah, Wandering in the Desert, Count the Omer 2013, Passover, Book of Exodus, Religion News

William Daroff: How Do We Speak Of The Holocaust Today?

2013-04-15T10:22:23Z

More than 100,000 Holocaust Survivors living today in the United States suffered the worst oppression and brutality in human history. Now, they are increasingly frail and debilitated, and many are living below the poverty line.

Read more: Yom Hashoah, Holocaust, Judaism, Jewish Federations, Passover, Jewish Community, Holocaust Survivors, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish Social Justice, Religion News

Tzipah Wertheimer: Unicycle Yourself To A Better You

2013-04-12T10:09:05Z

As we count each of the days of the sefira, we are meant to realign ourselves. The goal is to hold back what needs to be held back and push ourselves into those awkward uncomfortable places that ultimately make us into better people.

Read more: Inspiration, Sefirat Haomer, Self-Improvement, Shavuot, Passover, Counting the Omer, Judaism, Jewish Spirituality, Jewish Parenting, Religion News

Dana Beyer: Covering in Katmandu, and the Uncovering of an American Trans Icon

2013-04-10T16:15:15Z

While I was operating in western Nepal I could bury myself in my work, pushing aside the desire to just finally come out and transition. One experience in Nepal exemplified my inner conflict and that was the Passover seder we created in Katmandu that year.

Read more: Covering, Katmandu, Passover Seder, Nepal, Eye Surgery, The Vagina Monologues, Cataracts, Eve Ensler, Lynn Conway, Vlsi, Gay Voices News

Rabbi Wendi Geffen: Simultaneous Joy And Pain: The Wisdom Of The Counting Of The Omer

2013-04-08T13:00:12Z

Will we view life as some sort of diminishing, increasingly limiting count down to the end, or will we see life as opening to an unending fount of opportunity, hope and joy? The Omer tradition, linking Passover to Shavuot, gives us the answer.

Read more: Pain, Omer, Presence, Passover, Joy, Passover Seder, Sefirat Haomer, Shavuot, Gratitude, Counting the Omer, Judaism, Jewish Parenting, Religion News

Win Bassett: Millennials Shift Seder Focus From Freedom to Family

2013-04-04T14:47:26Z

Like its counterparts of the synagogue and the halakha, the Passover meal observed today may not be so traditional. It is now steeped in a different tradition -- doctrine is out, and family is in.

Read more: Jewish Family, Family Traditions, Spiritual but Not Religious, American Judaism, Passover Seder, Judaism, Millennials, Millennial Generation, Millennial Experience, Passover, Religion News

Rabbi Lawrence Troster: My Kiddush Cup And Deeds Of Lovingkindness To The Earth

2013-04-03T11:06:59Z

We have made great idols of our ability to harness the resources of the earth, damming rivers, moving mountains and creating great structures that reach to the sky. While we have gained great benefits from our labor, it is time to now think of how to treat the earth with kindness.

Read more: Environmental Ethics, Psalm 104, Eco-Theology, Judaism, Deeds of Lovingkindness, Talmud, Gemilut Hasadim, Passover, Passover Seder, Green Faith, Chesed, Religion News

Rabbi Laura Geller: What Is Enough Freedom?

2013-04-03T07:39:26Z

The Festival of Passover just ended, not with a bang but a whimper. There was no big ritual, no loud family gathering, no singing, no telling the powerful story of our journey out of Egypt, Mitzrayim, the narrow place. Maybe that's because the journey doesn't really end.

Read more: Dayenu, Exodus From Egypt, Spiritual Journey, Passover, Reform Judaism, Blessings, Haggadah, American Judaism, Passover Seder, Judaism, Religion News

Sheila Quirke: Teaching My Son To Appreciate The Glory Of Spring

2013-04-02T12:40:26Z

Long story short, if I am doing my mothering job properly, my boy will some day come to recognize and appreciate the glory of Spring himself. He will know that life is universal and that its cyclical nature is confirmation of something to be celebrated.

Read more: Easter, Religion, Parenting, Heathen, Passover Traditions, Easter Traditions, Origins of Easter, Kids and Faith, Kids and Religion, Faith, Parents-Moms, Parents News

Michael Goldstein: God To Michael: Who Do You Think You Are?

2013-04-02T12:35:53Z

Somewhere between the Nile turning to blood, and the hail storm, a terrible thought strikes me. What if it's not Moses who is supposed to inspire me? What if Pharaoh is the one I should identify with?

Read more: Spiritual Development, Surrendering Your Self, Moses, Spiritual Journey, Surrender, Spirituality, Passover, Scripture Study, Book of Exodus, Religion News

Food52: 8 Yeasted Recipes for a Post-Passover Fix

2013-04-01T13:17:10Z

All week, we've been eating matzoh in all its form. So here are 8 glorious ways to break the bread fast. Eight recipes with our old, honored friend, yeast.

Read more: Bread, Recipes, Cooking, food52, Food, Slidepollajax, Yeast, Passover, Baking, Bread Recipes, Taste News

Joshua Stanton: Count The Omer With Hope

2013-04-02T08:58:00Z

The Omer need not be a time of sadness. The time between Passover and Shavuout can itself be transformational and full of hope.

Read more: Shavuot, Passover, Spiritual Exhale, Judaism, Jewish Mourning, Jewish Holidays, Scripture Commentary, Jewish Wisdom, Sefirat Haomer, Omer 2013, Count the Omer, Counting the Omer, Talmud, Book of Exodus, Religion News

Tanya Tolchin: The Four Grown Ups: A Passover Piece

2013-04-01T13:37:16Z

I have always found the section about the four children both compelling and off putting depending on the interpretation. I started to play with the idea a bit and turned it upside down.

Read more: Parenting, Passover, New American Haggadah, Jewish Parenting, The Four Children, Passover Seder, Judaism, Passover 2013, Religion News

Bonnie St. John: Let Go... And Grow!

2013-04-01T12:18:21Z

I have come to realize that in order to experience the rich and rewarding life I seek, there has to be a balance between discipline and passion. My dogged determination to hunker down and plow through any situation often meant that I ignored or missed opportunities for joy in my life.

Read more: Hospitals, Holidays, Spring, Rebirth, Easter, Personal Growth, Passover, Achieving Success, Pursuit of Happiness, Personal Development, Emotional Wellness, Achieving Goals, Healthy Living News

The Stir: Chocolate 'Idiot' Cake Is the Easiest Recipe You'll Find for Easter & Passover

2013-03-30T13:01:25Z

When you're in the mood for a rich, decadent, silky, supremely out-of-this world chocolate cake, this recipe is your ticket.

Read more: Dessert, Easter, Passover, Taste News

Brandon Ambrosino: What the Early Christians Meant When They Said, "Jesus is Lord"

2013-04-01T01:07:02Z

"Jesus is Lord," the disciples flippantly announce, and the overtones aren't lost on anyone who's listening. If Jesus is Lord, then that means Caesar isn't.

Read more: History, Easter, Philosophy, Ancient Rome, Judaism, Christianity, Resurrection, Passover, Religion News

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Belittling Tormentors Allows Us to Be Free

2013-03-31T21:18:42Z

One of the most effective methods to triumph over fear is to cease mentally aggrandizing the object of your fear.

Read more: Nile River, Slavery History, Civil War, Martin Luther King, Plagues, Slavery, Passover Traditions, Passover Plagues, Facing Fear, Ten Plagues, Passover, Religion News

Rabbi Rachel Kobrin: Unleavened Equality

2013-03-29T14:20:15Z

It is time to mobilize, to part the seas and walk together to the promised land that the founders of our great nation dreamt into existence. It is time to help our nation become a place that is truly built on "liberty and justice for all."

Read more: Kiddushin, Matzah, Passover Seders, Chuppah, Marriage Equality, Religion and Sexuality, Passover, Gay Marriage, Jewish Social Justice, Book of Exodus, Judaism, Religion News

Rabbi Miriyam Glazer: The Freedom Flame: Why This Night Should Be Different

2013-03-29T13:52:47Z

Now there are slaves. But if we all of us join together to take action against global slavery, not for long. The flame demanding accountability is burning within us too brightly.

Read more: Religion, Justice, Passover, Human Slavery, Passover Seder, Slavery, Modern Day Slavery, Book of Exodus, Jewish Social Justice, Judaism, Human Trafficking, Religion News

Levi Ben-Shmuel: Crossing Your Own Red Sea: How Will You Get Through?

2013-03-29T12:14:52Z

Life is designed to test us in many ways. Sometimes the tests are small and seemingly inconsequential. At other times, the significance of the test is obvious and terrifying.

Read more: Pesach, Test of Faith, Faith, Nachshon Ben Aminadav, Passover, Jewish Holidays, Spiritual Journey, Scripture Commentary, Hasidic Jews, Judaism, Religion News

Mike Ghouse: A Muslim Pluralist Celebrates Easter

2013-03-29T10:40:28Z

Whether Jesus was buried and resurrected, or taken up by God, faith in him is shared by more than half of the world inclusive of Muslims and Christians. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, his message of love thy enemy, love thy neighbor and forgive the other will set us free.

Read more: Easter, Interfaith Easter, Lent, Passover, Islam, Interfaith, Resurrection of Jesus, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Teachings of Jesus, Easter for Muslims, Religion News

James Ishmael Ford: Dreaming Zion: A Liberal Religious Meditation On Passover

2013-03-29T10:21:23Z

This dream manifests as a spiritual center, this place, this community, where we can look deep into our hearts, and from which, renewed and inspired, we can act in this world with more skill and grace than would otherwise be possible.

Read more: Liberal Religion, Passover, Unitarian Universalism, Judaism, Scripture Commentary, Scripture Study, Passover Meditation, Biblical Criticism, Book of Exodus, Religion News