Alef: The NEXT Conversation, is a web-zine which explores Jewish identity. Alef is the creation of Birthright Israel NEXT. Visit www.alefnext.com for more!
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- Founded:
- July, 2009
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Alef: The NEXT Conversation What's your New Years Resolution?
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Only hours remain until the clock strikes midnight on the year 2009 and, just like everyone else, I am left to reflect on what the year has brought and all that I wish to accomplish in 2010. For me, this ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation I love a New Years Tree. No, not the Christmas fir tree. The New Years fir tree.
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What is a New Years Tree you may be wondering? One of my favorite memories from my childhood is that every year, around the middle of December, my parents would get our family a yolka that would be in ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation An Italian father, a Jewish mother, and lots and lots of family for the holidays.
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The beauty of having an Italian father is being born into a giant, very localized, Roman-Catholic family in the New Haven area of Connecticut. Most people think the big fight in New Haven is over which ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation
In the words of Andy Williams, “it’s the most wonderful time of the
year.” Each year as the air turns crisp, the leaves change color, and
the light throw-blankets turn into heavy duvet covers, I turn into a
Jew obsessed.
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In the words of Andy Williams, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Each year as the air turns crisp, the leaves change color, and the light throw-blankets turn into heavy duvet covers, I turn into a Jew obsessed. ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation Bob Dylan's Christmas album comes out and Garrison Keillor suggests that Jews stay out of the Christmas Music business all in the same season. Coincidence? You decide.
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Jews doing Christmas music is hardly new. We have, after all, contributed everything from Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” to “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” testament ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation For many it's the season of cheer, but for some it's the season of isolation.
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As a child, I was fortunate enough to encounter only covert anti-Semitism, most of which was probably unintentional. Of course there were the Christmas concerts and the assumption that Santa visited my house too. ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation
“What the hell do you know about Christmas?” my mum asked.
“Nothing,” was my answer. I knew absolutely nothing about Christmas.
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When I was a kid, I had a tutor to help me prepare for Secondary School. She had me write a creative piece on Christmas and so I wrote about Christmas in England – the one I had read about in Enid Blyton ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation Just because it’s Christmas dinner doesn’t mean it can't be kosher too, right?
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No one makes Christmas dinner like my dad. Turkey, brisket, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, brownies…my mouth waters just thinking about it now. Best Kosher Christmas dinner you’ve ever tasted. Just because it’s Christmas dinner doesn’t mean it has to be treif too, right?
Alef: The NEXT Conversation It's not the most significant holiday on the Jewish calendar, but there is something we LOVE about hanukkah.
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It’s certainly not the most significant holiday in the Jewish calendar, nor does it appear in the Torah or carry with it many mitzvot (commandments). Actually, Hannukah’s apparent lack of importance ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation We have 4 words for you: Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song
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As Chanukah comes to an end, it makes me think about what I used to do as a kid with my family. I admit it – I’m definitely guilty of getting way too excited about Chanukah. Growing up, the highlight ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation A few weeks ago we heard about some of the less Jewish area codes, now take a look at Hanukkah in one of the most Jewish area codes of all.
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(716) is the area code for University at Buffalo (UB), where I went to college. (617) is the area code of Boston University (BU), where I went to graduate school. (716) / (617) and UB / BU – I always wondered if there was significance to the reversal of those numbers and letters. ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation
Sing along, dance along, or lip sync like you just don’t care. With all
the Hanukkah songs out there, we know there must be one for you.
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Whether you sing “Ma’oz Tzur” or Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song,” the truth is that there is a Hanukkah tune for you. So instead of having a case of the Mondays, dance ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation Dreidels and tinsel and champagne, oh my! How do we balance our Jewishness with our love Christmas music during the holiday season?
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The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is over, the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center has been lit, and the tourists are out in full force. It can only mean one thing: the winter holidays are upon us. ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation
With our third issue, “Tongue Tied”, winding down, and and Hanukkah
just around the corner, many of you may be wondering why we at Alef
chose this time to focus on language, and in particular- Hebrew.
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With our third issue, “Tongue Tied,” winding down, and Hanukkah just around the corner, many of you may be wondering why we at Alef chose this time to focus on language, and in particular, ...
Alef: The NEXT Conversation
Learning Hebrew fluently is a challenge; At what point can any of us
say we’ve learned “enough”? Is it once we’re able to speak to our
Israeli family, or once we can laugh at Hebrew-speaking comedians on
Youtube? Is there really such thing “enough” Hebrew?
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Yet all I could manage was to sputter, “Sort of. I mean, yes! But not perfectly, I mean, pretty well, I can speak it and understand it, but reading is a challenge, my handwriting is atrocious, and really ...
