On Hanukkah, the Latke Road Less Traveled

Part of our Countdown to Hanukkah series.

By Joan Nathan for The New York Times

Each year before Hanukkah, which begins this year at sunset on Sunday, I wonder why I labor so over potato latkes. I grate the potatoes and onions by hand, often skinning my knuckles. I squeeze out the water so the potatoes fry crisper and won’t discolor — but sometimes they still do.

I tasted a mashed potato latke recently and knew I had found my ideal: no grating, no squeezing, no discoloring. So easy that I wondered why cooks take the more difficult path.

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The Little Girl Who Wanted a Dog for Hanukkah

Part of our Countdown to Hanukkah series.

Her parents didn’t want her to have a dog. Or maybe they just didn’t want her to want something they didn’t want themselves.

By Simon Yisrael Feuerman for Tablet Magazine

Miriam wanted a dog for Hanukkah.

Her Hasidic-leaning family was up in arms. The father, a learned man in his 40s, asked: A hoont? A dog? What kind of 12 year-old girl wants a dog? For her pregnant mother, this request came from the very dark side of the moon. A dog! She said it as though the very word were a curse. In the Brooklyn courtyard where they lived, neighbors put in their two cents: A dog!? Who knows what comes from the mouths of children?

A rabbi was consulted.

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The Maccabeats - Latke Recipe - Hanukkah

Part of our Countdown to Hanukkah series.

 


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Honey-Rosemary Angel Food Cake

Part of our Countdown to Hanukkah series

From Better Homes and Gardens

A tradition on Hanukkah is to eat dairy (see yesterday's entry as to why). We think you'll enjoy this very different Hanukkah cake.  Let us know what you think

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon snipped fresh rosemary
1 7 inch angel food cake

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On Hanukkah, Women As Role Models

Part of our Countdown to Hanukkah series

MyJewishLearning.com Staff Writer

Although Judah Maccabee and his father Matathias are the most famous characters in the Hanukkah story, the holiday also commemorates two Jewish women: Judith and Hannah.

The First Book of Maccabees and Second Book of Maccabees, which chronicle the story of the rebellion that inspired Hanukkah, were not included in the Bible, and are instead part of a body of texts known as the Apocrypha. Also in the Apocrypha is the Book of Judith, which tells how this heroine stopped the siege of Jerusalem by decapitating Holofernes, a major military leader for the enemy.

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Citing boycott, Jewish academic refuses to help Israeli child

Asked for info on horses, Dr. Marsha Levine tells schoolgirl she’ll answer ‘when there is justice for Palestinians’

By Times of Israel Staff

An  expert in the history of horses has rebuffed a request for information from an Israeli girl, citing as the reason for her refusal Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

Shachar Rabinovitch, 13, wrote recently to the British-American researcher Marsha Levine, who is Jewish, that she was doing a school project about horses and requested details about the domestication and breeding of early horse species.

According to a Facebook post by her mother, Shamir, on Monday, Levine replied: “I’ll answer your questions when there is peace and justice for Palestinians in Palestine.”

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Holiday Heartache – Helping Divorced Kids Get Through

Part of our Countdown to Hanukkah, this article deals with families of divorce and how to navigate the holidays.

Barbara Aiello for The Times of Israel

In  a few days Chanukah begins and then it’s time for Christmas. But for many children whose parents are divorced, the holiday season can be at best difficult and at worst traumatic.

Before I became a rabbi, I served on the board of a counseling service for divorced families. Later, when I became a rabbi, I became a support group leader for families and children who suffer through all the issues surrounding the breakup of a marriage. I’ve seen a lot.  From my own experience as a divorced parent to my work as a counselor, I’ve come to the conclusion that the most difficult divorces involve children and the areas that are most contentious surround child support, custody and visitation.  And each of these is exacerbated when the holidays roll around

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