What's The Most Important Jewish Holiday?

Martha, Martha, Martha

Shavua Tov. Since there are new friends on this new newsletter list, I wanted to share about one of my favorite annual Jewish Food Hero creation.

When I grew up and began deepening my Jewish knowledge, I was surprised to discover that there were SO many more Jewish holidays than I’d never heard of as a kid! 

As I learned more about them, I began to get the wisdom that embodies the Jewish year.

I learned that the Jewish year does indeed begin on Rosh Hashanah, but it also has continual beginnings, little and big ones, throughout the year. 

There is always another Jewish holiday coming up - no matter when you look at the calendar.

It may be in just a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, but there’s always one on the horizon, and this makes the Jewish calendar an open invitation to engage.

A never-ending cycle of seeking meaning and beginning again. 

Which one is the most important? I’ve heard it said (only half-jokingly) that it’s the one coming up next!

The Jewish calendar constantly connects us
* To each other
* To tradition
* To something beyond us, whatever we may understand that something to be

Unlike the Gregorian calendar that we all know- that is based solely on the sun-  and unlike the Islamic calendar that is based solely on the moon-  the Jewish calendar is a combination: a moon-based calendar that is regularly adjusted according to the sun. 

So the Jewish life cycle inherently includes balance, and it is about consistently refining, readjusting, and recalibrating.

Now, in my “other life” I’m a psychotherapist, and so I love all these opportunities to connect.

Whereas News Year’s resolutions are made (and often tossed aside) only once a year, the Jewish calendar is about starting anew- all the time: each new month, every next holiday…

When I began understanding all this (let’s be honest, its still ongoing), I wanted this invitation to start again as have a Jewish calendar as a beautiful reminder on my wall. I wanted myself, and my daughter, to see it all the time - no need to check the phone to remind myself when the next holy day is. This was the inspiration for making the annual Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print

And the inspiration for the design?

Martha Stewart?

What does she have to do with Jewish Food Hero? Or with any Jewish home?

Well, when I was in high school and college, I loved looking through Martha’s magazine. Back then in the 1990s, the magazine was the only one of its kind. I am not sure what year the Jewish content starting showing up the Martha Stewart magazine but I was amazed to see Judaism represented visually. Martha gave recipes for making matza balls on Passover, inspiration for setting our tables with apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah, and tips on how to clean the wax off our menorahs after Hanukkah.

I loved it, but it didn’t sit right with me that Martha Stewart’s magazine was the inspiration on how to make Jewish holidays beautiful and special. 

At that time, I couldn’t find another source, however, that emphasized the visual expression of Judaism’s beauty and during all these years, I never found a Jewish holiday calendar that was both beautiful and practical. And beauty is a big part of what inspires me with Jewish Food Hero.

So in 2014, when I started Jewish Food Hero the first thing that was created for the brand was Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print.

It is a honor that:

• the Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print is selected by Etsy's style and trend editors as an “Etsy’s Pick”

• every year, this calendar goes to more and more homes around the world.

Last year, I got an this touching email from a woman who lost her home in the Colorado wildfires that captured the essense

The Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print makes our houses feel like home. I sent her a new print immediately in hopes that it would help them create a new home.

When you place the Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print for your home this year, please send me a photo of it and tell me how your feel about the calendar. I always share these calendar photos and thoughts on the Jewish Food Hero Instagram.

To Your health and inspiration,

Kenden

P.S. Please share this newsletter with someone who would love the Jewish Holiday Calendar Art Print for their home.

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