| 7:00 am Dec 14, 2009 | Print | Email / Share
Sources:
2. Penn Current
3. Ynet
4. Slate
My children are becoming German citizens, and I’m going nuts
Little people, big questions
After the testosterone-fueled commercial wasteland of the Super Bowl, Olympics spots show some love to women.
A haftorah of blame and blessings
A haftorah of video games and vengeance
Forget cleaning for Passover and instead head to a luxury hotel for the holiday
After a painstaking survey, Tablet Magazine awards title for nation's tastiest triangular treat
Making Palestinian chicken and Moroccan challah for a Shabbat dinner with Alice Waters
The national infatuation with pork has reached Jewish cuisine, prohibitions notwithstanding
My children are becoming German citizens, and I’m going nuts
Little people, big questions
After the testosterone-fueled commercial wasteland of the Super Bowl, Olympics spots show some love to women.
Playing the defiant Vashti in a day school Purim play awakened my inner feminist
On Valentine’s Day, reflecting on the limits and boundlessness of a father’s love
Plus-size retail queen Deb Malkin insists that fashion isn’t only for the skinny
Amid financial shortfalls and a Conservative crisis, the Jewish Theological Seminary will shutter its cantorial school
As Chabad opens preschools across the country, secular parents try to reconcile the movement with the classroom
The recession has hit the rabbinate, too. How are the newly ordained—and laid-off veterans—handling the rabbi glut?
How to reconcile religious prohibitions on autopsies with the need to determine a cause of death
From the archives: The neverending fetishistic fascination with Jews and intelligence
Immunization fears lead to another outbreak among New York’s ultra-Orthodox
For an Orthodox preteen, Tonya Harding was a hero—and a Purim inspiration
A crossword puzzle celebrating Judaism’s denominations
The Coney Island attraction who made wrestling history
Both brilliant…and demoralizing. I’ll let you figure out which reaction applies to which statistic.
wait, NO presents in Israel? that does not sound right. Also, please to include a statistic measuring how many Chanukah songs sound like horrible dirges v. Christmas songs that are same (answer: one, that scary “hark how the bells” song).
I’m an Israeli – the statistic about no presents in Israel is completely wrong – the toy stores go out of their way to entice the public – and succeed big time – into buying gifts for kids. What I do is give my grandchildren the money and tell them to tell mommy to take them to the store and pick out a gift.
“The Israelis do not celebrate Hanukkah as a gift-giving holiday. American Jews do.”
This does NOT mean that Israelis give ZERO presents over Hannukah. It just means that the holiday is not gift-centric. Kids do usually get a gift or two. But not huge and expensive, no ‘gift for each night’ and adults don’t exchange gifts. And plenty of money is spent entertaining the kids over Hannukah break, believe you me.
hey, zelda and allison — i based my comment on the economist’s observation (see the footnote) that there isn’t an economic spike in israel in december. but hey, with increasingly aggressive marketing by consumer businesses, who knows — israel may yet achieve the crazed December-stimulus-producing iffy-values glory we americans have achieved. we can dream.
Chanukah is more commercial here in Israel than in the past. Going to children’s shows, handicraft events (like in Tel Shiloh) are also popular as gifts.
Great job on this site. I like comming here to read your articles. Keep up the good work!