Category: November 2017

An amazing assortment of potato pancakes, plus a new take on the classic doughnut to make this Chanukah something special   By: Richard Pearce, Owner and Head Chef, Totally Kosher Soft and creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside, potato latkes (Yiddish) are as Jewish as bagels, and just as versatile. Traditionally served on Chanukah, latkes (aka potato pancakes) originated in Eastern Europe and now grace the tables of Jewish homes around the world. With the addition of a few simple ingredients, we give latkes a modern twist! For…

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Much of what we know as Western culture comes from that ancient empire that long ago tried to destroy us. The battle against the Greek army is long over, but the battle against the Greeks’ lingering cultural influence rages on until today.   By: Robert Sussman Our Sages teach[1] that the mitzvah of Chanukah is “Ner ish u’beiso – one candle (for) a man and his house”. Although we are accustomed to lighting more than one candle each night of Chanukah, the basic mitzvah of Chanukah is to light a…

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  By Chandrea Serebro Rochi Zimbler Rosh Machaneh, Camp Kesher As Vice Rosh and then Rosh of Camp Kesher, Rochi Zimbler is pretty much in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly on camp and that everyone else is doing his job. No small task when you consider that if anyone slips up or if anything doesn’t go according to plan, it’s you who has to face the music of the camp goers and the rest of the staff, and even the parents! And if you still don’t think that…

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  The battle between the physical and the spiritual   By: Aron Ziegler Unlike Purim, which occurred while there was still some remnant of prophecy remaining with the Jewish people, the events of the miracles of Chanukah could not be immortalised in our Holy Scriptures as our prophetic abilities were no more. In order to remind us of the extraordinary miracles that Hashem did for us in those days, the Rabbis chose to build upon the seemingly insignificant miracle of “the small jar of oil lasting longer than expected” and…

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  Bitten by the travel bug   By Chandrea Serebro Most often you don’t even feel it when the bug bites. You didn’t know it was coming, you never even knew it was there, and you only realise you’ve been bitten when you’re already somewhere you had never dreamed you would ever be. Lance Abramson realised how fully he had been bitten on a Shabbos walk one day, after a nice kosher lunch, revelling in G-ds world and enjoying just being. On mount Kilimanjaro, that is, the highest mountain in…

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Planning a road trip this holiday? Start thinking about how you can stay safe now. Here are a few tips from the experts to help you get ready for the big day.   By Chandrea Serebro Ilan Sommer, Auto Electrician, Martin’s Auto Electrical – 011 837 8428 A few years ago, I came across an article about a family who’d packed up their car and set off for a wonderful holiday and some good family bonding time. Shortly into the trip, one of the younger members of the family, who was…

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Waging an impossible battle: to fuse physicality with spirituality   By: Dovid Samuels On Chanukah, we celebrate a miraculous victory in our battle against the Greek Empire. The question is, why did we, as a people, decide to stand up against our tormentors and wage war with them, when so many other times in Jewish history, Purim being one of them, we made a national decision to avoid fighting and instead engage in more spiritual activities like communal fasting and prayer? What is the appropriate Jewish response towards our enemies:…

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