The title for this post is a phrase familiar to Jews who are used to praying daily. for those who don't fall into that category עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן וְעַל הַגְּבוּרות וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעות וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמות שֶׁעָשיתָ לַאֲבותֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בִּזְּמַן הַזֶּה: for the miracles and the saving and the great brave deeds and the victories and the wars which You performed for our ancestors in those days at this time of year--( but I could argue that it can also read and now --at this historical moment as well.) We recite this introduction to a longer prayer at Chanukah and also on Purim. On Purim of 1991 Iraq was at war with the United States. For a periods of several weeks Iraq sent a nightly barrage of Scud missiles into Israel. Every night just in time for the 11:00 pm news in New York we watched missiles raining down on Israel with Iraq additionally promising to send missiles with poison gas. We heard from family and friends huddled in sealed rooms al...
A blog, mostly about my work making Jewish ritual objects, but with detours into garment making, living in New York City, cooking, and other aspects of domestic life. A note about comments: I love comments from readers, from spammers, not so much. I approve comments before posting them so comments are not cluttered with junk. It may take a few hours before your posts appear. Be patient. If you are a real person with a real comment it will be posted.