The Great War Novelist America Forgot

With no Jewish holidays coming up immediately, we bring you profiles of some well known and some not so well known Jews. Enjoy.

Herman Wouk deserves more critical acclaim than he’s enjoyed.

By David Frum for The Atlantic

On May 27, the American novelist Herman Wouk will attain the prodigious age of 100. Over his long career, Wouk has achieved all the wealth and fame a writer could desire, or even imagine. His first great success, The Caine Mutiny (1951), occupied bestseller lists for two consecutive years, sold millions of copies, and inspired a film adaptation that became the second highest-grossing movie of 1954. Wouk’s grand pair of novels, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, likewise found a global audience, both in print, and then as two television miniseries in the 1980s.

Wouk won a Pulitzer for The Caine Mutiny. From then on, however, critical accolades eluded him. Reviews of the two “War” novels proved mostly dismissive—sometimes even savage. Critics assigned the proudly Jewish Wouk to the category that included Leon Uris and Chaim Potok rather than Saul Bellow and Philip Roth.

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Why Do We Read The Book of Ruth on Shavuot?

 Monday, May 25, 2015 - Second Day of Shavuot

A special reading for Shavuot

By Rabbi Ronald H. Isaacs; From MyJewishLearning.com

Excerpted with permission from Every Person’s Guide to Shavuot (Jason Aronson, Inc).

In traditional settings, the Book of Ruth is read on the second day of Shavuot. The book is about a Moabite woman who, after her husband dies, follows her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, into the Jewish people with the famous words “whither you go, I will go, wherever you lodge, I will lodge, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” She asserts the right of the poor to glean the leftovers of the barley harvest, breaks the normal rules of behavior to confront her kinsman Boaz, is redeemed by him for marriage, and becomes the ancestor of King David.

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Shavuot 101

Shavuot begins this Saturday night, May 23, at sundown

MyJewishLearning.com

Shavuot, the “Feast of Weeks,” is celebrated seven weeks after Pesach (Passover). Since the counting of this period (sefirat ha-omer) begins on the second evening of Pesach, Shavuot takes place exactly 50 days after the (first) seder. Hence, following the Greek word for “fifty,” Shavuot is also referred to sometimes as Pentecost. Although its origins are to be found in an ancient grain harvest festival, Shavuot has been identified since biblical times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

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Celebrate Shavuot by Pretending You're on a Kibbutz

From Zvuvi's Israel

Getting ready for Shavuot? Learning about it in school? Then I'm sure you know that one of the names this holiday has is חג הביכורים -- holiday of the first fruits.

When the State of Israel came into being, Shavuot quickly became the favorite kibbutz holiday. Back then, kibbutzim -- collective agricultural communities -- were the source of Israel's luscious fruits and vegetables. Even though times have changed, Shavuot is still a special agricultural celebration on the kibbutz. Girls continue the tradition of wearing crowns made out of flowers (floral garlands). Here's an example. Look at it carefully and see if you can make one just like it.

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A Torah for Lag B'Omer: Open My Eyes That I May See Wonders in Your Torah

 Lag B'Omer is celebrated this year on Thursday, May 7th

Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman, Director, Ohr Chadash: New Horizons in Jewish Experience for Huff post Religion

According to the wisdom of arranging the letters of Hebrew words in various ways, in order to extract multiple layers of meaning, the letters of the word Lag (as in Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer) when reversed, spell gal. The root word gal has many meanings, one of which is "to open" or "reveal." This meaning is expressed in the verse: "Open (gal) my eyes that I may see wonders in your Torah" (Psalms 119:18). This verse clearly relates to Lag B'Omer, the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. In the Zohar he and his students reveal sublime and lofty secrets of the inner dimensions of Torah.

Paradoxically, the words in Hebrew for exile (galut) and redemption (geulah) are both derived from the root gal. The fact that both words share the same root points to the intrinsic, cyclic connection of exile and redemption, as it has accompanied human kind and especially the Jewish people throughout its history. It is stated in the Zohar that on the merit of learning its teachings, the Jewish people will go out of exile. Learning the inner dimensions of Torah will create a critic mass of light and spiritual energy sufficient to turn exile (galut) into redemption (geulah).

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Lag Ba'Omer

The thirty-third day of the Omer is an occasion for happiness during an otherwise mournful period.

By Francine Klagsbrun for MyJewishLearning.com

Few of the many couples who marry on Lag Ba'Omer give much thought to why this is one of the very few days between Pesah and Shavuot when Jewish law permits weddings.

If they were to investigate, they would find a conflicting array of explanations, all appealing, none definitive.

Why We Celebrate
The explanations begin with the Omer period itself, those forty-nine days that are counted off one by one between the two festivals. This is a time of semi-mourning, when weddings and other celebrations are forbidden, and as a sign of grief, observant Jews do not cut their hair.

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Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut

Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day)

 (April 23, 2015)

Following World War II and the establishment of the state of Israel, four new holidays, referred to as ‘modern’ Jewish holidays have been added to the Jewish calendar. Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day), Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day) and Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) are observed as national holidays in Israel, and recognized around the world by Jewish communities.

Yom HaZikaron was set aside on the day before Yom HaAtzmaut as a time of memorial for soldiers who lost their lives fighting in the War of Independence and in other battles or wars.

In Israel, it is a solemn day in which all places of entertainment and many businesses are closed. Two-minute sirens are sounded throughout the nation, one in the evening marking the beginning of the holiday and one prior to a public national memorial ceremony.

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Yom Ha'atzmaut: Israel Independence Day

 (April 24, 2015)
Israel's Independence Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the "provisional government" read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv.

The original date corresponded to May 14, 1948.

Most of the Jewish communities in the Western world have incorporated this modern holiday into their calendars, but some North American Jewish communities hold the public celebrations on a following Sunday in order to attract more participation. In the State of Israel it is a formal holiday, so almost everyone has the day off.

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To read and learn more about both holidays, check out our Spring Holidays Kit or Check out Jvillage’s Modern Jewish Holiday page    page.