Back in November, Ashfaq Taufique from the Birmingham Islamic Society (BIS), told me about BIS’s Story Time at the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School and how they’d like Bham Now to do a piece about the event. I’ve written several pieces about the importance of Jewish and Muslim solidarity in Birmingham. This was the story I was born to cover.
But sometimes, you have to wait.
Continue reading “BIS Story Time: Teaching Our Children Well”
Chanukah starts at sundown on December 12th.
Continue reading “Fish n’ Grits for a Southern-Style Chanukah”
Across the country, the majority of businesses are closed on December 25th. It’s to be expected. It’s Christmas Day.
Continue reading “December 25th for the Christmas Non-Participants”
Chanukah is not “Jewish Christmas.” Let’s bust a few myths before we really get started.
Chanukah is a celebration about resisting assimilation and the survival of the Jewish people against all odds. Continue reading “Chanukah 5778: It’s gonna be lit!”
Shana Tova!
This past week, Jews celebrated the start of the year 5778 as well as the start of the month of Tishrei, or head of the year. The month of Tishrei is a time we usually refer to as the High Holidays, which includes Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah/Shemini Atzeret. Many of the traditions, customs, and rituals are fairly well known, like dipping apples in honey and fasting on Yom Kippur. Others, like dancing with the Torah scrolls on Simchat Torah, usually aren’t referenced in sitcom jokes. Continue reading “Local Honey Holiday Challah for the New Year”
There’s a lot of national observances on any given day. Some well known and loved like International Talk Like a Pirate Day, some less so, like Squirrel Appreciation Day. Some are for a good cause, some are just fun, and others have dedicated followings (like Hobbit Day).
If you are looking for a good excuse, however, to drink beer for charity and chow down on some pancakes in the name of patriotism, here is a guide to how to celebrate some of the September observances in Birmingham.
Continue reading “September in Birmingham: A Guide to National Observances”
Shakshuka is comfort food as much as grits and a good cornbread are comfort food. It’s warm, spicy, eggy, and can be paired with anything crunchy and crispy which is just what your doctor and grandmother prescribed for a rough morning. Shakshuka has been curing aching heads and broken hearts for generations in North Africa and the Middle East.
Plus, it’s fun to say.
Continue reading “Game Day Recipes: Southern-Style Shakshuka”
Got a lot of tomatoes in the garden? Hit the farmer’s market recently? Went on a Whole Foods run? Found a random can of Trader Joe’s pickled green tomatoes in the pantry? None of the above but always wondered what to even do with green tomatoes? Good. I have a bit of a passion for green tomatoes, so get your serrated knives out. Continue reading “Y’all Come Back, Nu? A Very Southern Shabbat (& Recipe)”
If you’ve been hearing an increase in the amount of Hebrew being spoken around you at the grocery store, you aren’t going crazy. There’s a lot of blue and white lanyards around town, a lot of teenagers in gym shorts and yarmulkes. There are nearly 1,000 athletes from around the world staying with host families in Birmingham to participate in the 2017 JCC Maccabi Games. Continue reading “MaccaB’ham: Maccabi Games in the Magic City”
Sometimes, after a long week at work, all you want to do is let your inner child run around screaming until it needs a snack and a nap. But in a slightly more refined way that comes from being a taxpayer with a horizontal driver’s license. Maybe not so much screaming. If Chuck E. Cheese (Charles Entertainment, really) is where a kid goes to be a kid, where does a grown up go to get childish in Birmingham? Continue reading “Get Childish in Birmingham”
Chris Ivey is a personal friend. I probably should not be the one to write this article. But when he is on stage, I am not his friend. I’m a bonafide Chris Ivey fan (the same for most performers mentioned, but I promise, this is all coming from a place of deep respect and admiration). And for a year now, Chris Ivey has been dedicating himself to putting together The Magic City T’night Show which had it’s debut Tuesday, July 11th, at Saturn.
Continue reading “The Magic City T’night Show: B’ham’s Best”
Oh, Magic City Con, how I love you. Any place where all things geeky, all things strange, weird, wonderful, subversive, and joyful meet is my kind of place, and Birmingham caters to its enthusiast residents.
If you don’t practice Islam, you’re probably incredibly unfamiliar with the faith’s holidays, celebrations, and traditions outside of the call to prayer, the hijab, and maybe you know that Mecca is important. And maybe, perhaps because you live in Alabama (or at least in America) in a time of great cultural exchange and diversity, you have heard of Ramadan.
At least you’ve heard the word. You might automatically say that it’s a fast and that it lasts for a month. And no, that is not incorrect!
