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Old Rituals, New Customs

Museum employees talk about traditions on Jewish holidays.

  • A man wearing a surgical face mask with a package of matzo under his arm rings a doorbell.

    Across Mannheim in the Matzo-Mobile

    David Studniberg about the great feeling to support others during the corona crisis

    Report
    Apr 2020

  • Hand-painted colorful candelabrum made of ceramic and synthetic resin depicting various New York City landmarks: the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the World Trade Center, Broadway, and others.

    Hanukkah Lasts Eight Days...

    and for each day, we’ve got a little treat for you here (including some information about Chrismukkah)

    Online Feature
    2017/20

  • Color photograph of a realistically modeled miniature steamroller with roller, excavator shovel, and driver's cab. A small metal tube for holding a feather and a candle holder have been attached to the upper side of the stylized engine compartment.

    The Big Clean-Up

    Dana Akrish on Passover in Jerusalem

    Essay
    2018

  • A boy with black hair and white shirt.

    Quite “best practice”

    Tom Chai Sosnik celebrated his coming out as transgender in spring 2015 with remarkable aplomb – in a ceremony performed by Rabbi Tsipi Gabai at a Jewish school in California, supported by his family.

    Essay
    2017

  • A yellow clay plate with traditional Passover herbs

    A Kind of Family Gathering

    Bitter Herbs and Their Relatives in the Diaspora Garden

    Essay
    2017

  • A teddybear holding a burning candle sits alongside an eight-branched lampstand.

    “8 Facts” about Hanukkah

    David Studniberg on the Jewish Feast of Dedication

    Essay
    2016

  • Cover of a Hebrew-German edition of the Haggadah with handwritten entries on the inside flaps

    A Small Window onto History

    Aubrey Pomerance, Head of Archives, on a newly acquired Passover Haggadah and its previous owners in Kreuzberg

    Behind the Scenes
    2014/2016

  • Picture of scholars with books discussing with each other

    Kol Nidre and the “Civil Improvement of the Jews”

    Haim Mahlev on controversies throughout the ages

    Essay
    2015

  • A rag doll sits on a throne and looks at a female rag doll standing on a pedestal.

    “Clever Esther” – Not Suitable for Children?!

    Shlomit Tripp reports about her child-oriented retelling of the Esther story

    Essay
    2015

  • The hanukkah candelarium described in the text on a table together with presents, a lamp and a dreidel.

    “If I were a rich mouse ...”

    Michal Friedlander on Mickey, Minnie and their Hanukkah message

    Essay
    2015

  • Hand puppet standing behind a box filled with pancakes, plus a speech bubble.

    In the Sleeping Car with Ten Hand-puppets and a Travel Hanukkah Candelabrum

    Shlomit Tripp on her Hanukkah with the bubales family

    Essay
    2015

  • Brown wooden box with oranges, with Jaffa lettering.

    “Go down Moses” and an Orange on the Seder Plate

    Cilly Kugelmann on old and new customs for Passover

    Essay
    2013

  • Filled jars with honey.

    Apples in Honey and Gefilte Fish

    Museum employees share their personal experiences of the High Holidays

    Interview
    2013

  • Artistic staging: The biblical Ruth and Naomi collecting left over onions in nowadays Tel-Aviv.

    The Long Night of Tikkun

    Mirjam Wenzel and Avner Ofrath about what we can learn from loving women

    Essay
    May 2013

  • A menora, flowers, and the book

    Menurkeys for Thanksgivukkah?

    Food for thought and recipes by Signe Rossbach

    Essay
    2013

  • Trees made from colored paper.

    Tu bi-Shevat Traditions in Israel

    Avner Ofrath on trees, fruit, and a breath of New Age

    Essay
    2013

  • In the foreground the detail of a bicycle, behind it is a person.

    Cycling Holiday

    Avner Ofrath on Yom Kippur in Israel

    Gloss
    2012

  • Paper boat floating in the water.

    New Customs for the New Year

    Shlomit Tripp about tashlikh boats and petals on the water

    Essay
    2012

  • Various sweets.

    Jewish Halloween

    Naomi Lubrich on candy as a tricky matter for synagogues on Simhat Torah

    Gloss
    2012