The Passover season in Israel goes into full force right after Purim, that is, one month before the holiday. Israeli employers are encouraged to purchase various gifts for their employees, and consumers are encouraged to buy anything and everything in honor of the holiday. While it usually makes more economic sense to clean your car,…
By Jonathan Marx, January 2015 It’s all about building community at every stage of life. For years local Jewish youth in Eugene could attend BBYO meet-ups, and college students could attend Hillel or Chabad events. It’s clear there’s no shortage of Jewish organizations in and around Eugene, but something still seemed to be missing: namely,…
A Guide to Jewish Holidays Note: Jewish holidays start at sundown the day before the first day of the holiday. Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 25-26, 2014) Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated each year on the first day of Tishrei, early in the fall. The day is a special time of rejoicing as we…
The first Jewish holiday I ever experienced was Purim. Think Halloween meets Easter, but much, much better! We feast, visit friends, dress up in costumes and drink to excess – all while handing out our baskets of food called mishloach manot to members of the community. I fell in love with the holiday, and I…
It’s Purim time! That means merriment, costumes, candy, mishloach manot (“shalach munous” as we say in the old country) and happy kids. In my youth, we went to shul, listened to the reading of the Megillah and spun those groggers like crazy – even the synagogue’s elders didn’t get annoyed at us (although they were…
Meira Spivak is trying to solve a major problem facing the Jewish community today – how to reach unaffiliated Jewish teens. As NCSY’s Oregon teen programming director, Spivak is in charge of local Jewish Student Unions – Jewish culture clubs in high schools. JSU has more than 300 clubs across North America and has expanded…
