I received this note from Becca Neril, a very active member of Jewlicious during her tenure as an undergrad at the Claremont Colleges, and one of the Jewish leaders on campus. She brought nearly 50 students to the festival last year, thanks to her organizing. Becca is working in Chicago, with AVODAH. Needless to say – we are very inspired by Becca and her work.

Dear friends and family,

Two blocks away from my apartment, on the street where my grandfather attended high school, there are eight deciduous trees whose flaming red and golden yellow leaves rustle in the Chicago autumnal wind. I woke up on Saturday morning to bare ivy vines lining the outside of our apartment windows and to the last remaining leaves, now auburn and dusty brown, solitarily swaying on the now bare tree branches. O how I love the fall here!

This email has been in the works for the past…two months. I have only recently gotten around to finishing it, hence the delayed update on my post-college adventures. In late August, I moved to Chicago to be part of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, which is an intensive Jewish learning program that seeks to educate the Corps Members about how Judaism relates to social justice. I am working full time at a Jewish anti-poverty organization called The Ark, which provides vital human services to the Chicago Jewish community. The Ark has a free community medical clinic, dental clinic, pharmacy, kosher food pantry, job placement and legal services, transitional housing for the homeless, psychological services, and intensive day program for mentally ill patients. Let me just say that I LOVE my job. My boss is so so so wonderful and everyone is really friendly at work. Because I am the youngest person on staff, some of the staff consider me like their own daughter. One case manager, for example, has already tried to set me up with her friend’s son!

My days at work focus mainly around food and drugs. The Ark is home to the largest kosher food pantry in the Midwest and I get to spend two hours every day filling clients’ orders and unpacking and checking hechshers on donated food items. I also have my own caseload of clients who I help prepare for their visit to the food pantry. I often reflect on how for many of these clients, handing us their shopping list strips them of some of their dignity. They are not able to complete one of the most basic tasks-that of supplying food for their family-and have to submit to other people to pick out their food for them. Whenever possible, I ask clients if they want crunchy or creamy peanut butter or whole wheat or white pasta in an attempt to give them back some autonomy that I feel they have lost. I often mull over these ethical issues and would love to discuss them with you! In terms of drugs-I work to secure free medications for our clients by enrolling them in patient assistance programs. I don’t have too many juicy stories about the pharmaceutical companies.

In short-I LOVE my job and I LOVE being part of AVODAH. If you are ever in the Chicago area, please give me a call or email! Also, I would love to hear any updates on your life adventures, whatever they may be.

Warmly,

Becca

We just were supersized.

Our new shabbat tent at Phish Fest! Check it out! In the Lamb on Broadway site next to camping headquarters! Corner of Carpet Crawlers and Gabriel Eno streets.

Thank you camping staff!

After we had to move – fire Marshall orders- they felt bad and gave us this. I joked that this is what happened to our ancestors in Europe. But in Anatevka try didnt get such nice digs.

So sweet and so kind. Shabbat Shalom Y’all from the desert.

We are in the final hours of a contest that I never thought I would be in—let alone be leading. However, thanks to amazing support from around the world, we are a couple thousand votes shy of our goal.

The winner of the UJC Heroes Contest receives $25,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. I have pledged to expand Jewlicious Festival if we win, doing more than ever before.

Can you spare a few seconds to vote? To post a link on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace?

Jewlicious Festival is a place in time for young Jews to gather, to explore, to celebrate being Jewish. It’s an event unlike any other in Jewish history, uniting people from across ethnic, social, religious and political lines.

Jewlicious is Woodstock, Jewish Summer Camp, Mt. Sinai and Burning Man rolled into three non-stop days. We had 1,000 participants last year in just one location – we hope to bring the experience to 10,000 more.

Please – take a second to vote, and spread the good news – Jewlicious Festival, a place of unity that we so badly need in the Jewish world today, is leading the UJC Hero Contest and only a few votes from our goal of 100,000.

Please – pass the word. Don’t delay – we have only until tonight, 9pm PST.

Vote now! http://bit.ly/18HEXA

Check out this Tribute Video also placed below: http://bit.ly/2rMwyy

May all your dreams and prayers this year be realized.

Barbara Babbs Streisand played an exclusive show recently at the Village Gate. Over 40 years since she first audition there, was turned down, then became the Streisand that world loves.

Another Jewish musician played the Village Gate, and was not turned down, and recorded that session for eternity. Shlomo Carlebach’s At the Village Gate remains one of his best live albums, complete with glasses breaking in the background. Recorded in 1963 – 46 years ago – it highlights an era when a Jewish folksinger could be a proud Jew amid the cacophony of movements for social change.

At Jewlicious Festival we highlight contemporary Jewish folksingers whenever we can. They connect with the Festival’s vibe, and bring joy and humor to the stage. They compliment the rock, rap, dj’s, hip-hop, fusion, jazz, and other styles you can find.

If you know a Jewish folksinger that we should have at Jewlicious – shoot us an email. While we don’t have a budget to fly them in, we have spots on the schedule for a handful of up and coming folksingers.

Jewlicious Festival 6.0 – Feb. 19-21, 2010 – Long Beach CA
Tickets go on sale in November!

Tu B’Av is an ancient day of Jewish romance and celebrating the love in our lives on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Av. It’s older than St. Valentine’s Day and Sadie Hawkins Day by a few thousand years. We dusted off this gem of a Holyday which had seen little activity here in LA, and together with JconnectLA created LoveFest last. Over 300 people jammed into the event last year, so we realized that we were intoan annual event, and we had to take this one higher than ever before.

Enter the totally cool and hip vibe at Bungalow Club, on Melrose, Los Angeles’s hipster road. Add some of the best Jewish music in the country: Moshav, Rav Shmuel, Dov Rosenblatt (Blue Fringe), DJ Eric Rosen, DJ Cajami. We have a vendor fair with interesting swag, delicious ala carte dining, special Love Fest drinks at recession prices, and HurryDate®. HurryDate® speed dating is a great way to meet lots of new people in a quick, fun, no-pressure environment. They hold speed dating parties for Jewish singles in cities all across the US each week.

JconnectLA presents a LoveFest of cosmic proportions this year on WED. AUG 5, 8PM. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Hosted by The Bungalow Club, and sponsors Jdate and HurryDate®, LeDoVaDor, JewC, Modern Tribe and Cool Jew.
Make sure to buy your tickets soon for LoveFest – it’ a mini-Jewlicious Festival in the middle of LA, with a full bar.

One Day (new single)

Check out Rob Eshman’s article “ONE DAY” in the Jewish Journal for a backstage look at Matisyahu’s tour this year.

I have seen the Jewish future — it’s loud, and hypnotic, and it reeks of pot.

Last week, for two nights, I became a groupie. The singer Matisyahu came into my life just when I needed him most, and I followed him, like a Deadhead after Jerry Garcia, for two days and two nights.

Matisyahu has a few more shows before his tour is over – it’s been a great tour. Hope you can catch it.

Kosha Dillz won a big rap contest in New York and a record deal with Duck Down Records. You might remember Kosha from the last two Jewlicious Festivals where he made some special appearances on stage with Diwon, Y-Love, and Moshav.

Kosh entered the boost mobile/hot 97 battle SUMMER JAM 2009 this past Sunday and surprised the competition impressing even Asher Roth. [Caution - lyrics not so kosha ]

One of the single best Summer Music Festivals in the country is June 4-7 in Arkansas. The Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a 4-day foot-stomping party born in 2004. Music loving folks from all 50 U.S. States and several countries are expected this year and as many as 100 artists, on 7 stages, with 4 days of non-stop music and entertainment.

Organized by the Shabbat Tent Team (including yours truly), and sponsored by Birthright Israel NEXT, Matisyahu and friends will be setting up prayer services, meals, and parties throughout the weekend.

No knowledge of Shabbat is required, and all activities are open to everyone who wants to attend.

Festival Campers can stop by the Shabbat Tent at anytime throughout the festival simply to hang out, take shelter, nosh, or get into a heated conversation.

Follow Shabbat Tent on Twitter, for more Tent News as the Festival nears, and some more Shabbat Tent projects that are coming down the pipeline.

With so much craziness going on in the world, we have to stick together and show solidarity for Israel. Jewlicious has joined the largest Israel Festival in the USA to help bring you an amazing show by MOSHAV. Join us for an afternoon of fun, music, and friends. Vendors, food, Israel vibe everywhere – there will be 10-20,000 people there. ONLY $5 Check out the Jewlicious Booth where we will have a free gift! This is going to be a huge party and we look forward to seeing you!

MOSHAV play at 4pm so you want to be there by 3 to get parking and make your way to the stage.
Join the Jewlicious Facebook Event here
Israel Festival
Sunday, May 3, 2009 10 am – 7 pm
At Woodley Park Admission $5
All day fun for adults, kids and families — Rides, food, and a variety of booths and more….
For more info: www.israelfestival,com or 818-757-0123

REPEAT! Moshav @ 4pm on the main stage….don’t miss this show for Israel!

Jews have higher IQ’s because they were money lenders in Europe with big families, have defective genes that give them an unfair IQ advantage over their European counterparts, and have a propensity for nasty genetic diseases. Our genetic superiority makes us inferior. Yes!

In the article “Is Jewish Legacy Inscribed on Genes”, the author Karen Kaplan made little effort to deliver actual news. Rather, she let herself and the LA Times launch a mainstream, antisemitic canard that Jews’ intellectualism is racially and genetically based. In other words, we Jews can’t help being rich nerds. This so-called group evolutionary biology, loved, adored, and worshiped by the Anti-Semites, holds that Jews are racially different and capable of great evil because of their superior IQ’s over regular White Europeans. The subjects of this story are the latest pseudo-scientists that use their PhD’s in other fields to pursue this Jewish genetic racist theory. They are white, non-Jewish Christian men, with something akin to gene envy. Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy, and Henry Harpending’s research paper Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence is porn for anti-Semites.

Jews first came to Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, long before they were known for intellectual prowess, Cochran and Harpending say. They worked as traders before taking financial jobs made available by Christians who were forbidden by the Church from charging interest. By 1100, local registries listed most Ashkenazi Jews as lenders.

That set the stage for natural selection to do its work, Cochran and Harpending theorized. Jews didn’t intermarry, keeping their gene pool closed. They were subjected to periodic persecution, which kept the population from outgrowing its professional niche.

According to the theory, the smartest individuals made the most money, and the wealthiest families had the most surviving children. The genes of the most intelligent Jews spread most, slowly raising the average IQ of the entire group.

Over 40 generations — roughly 1,000 years — an increase of just 0.3 points per generation would have added up to a cumulative advantage of 12 points, Cochran and Harpending theorized. Some of their other models projected a benefit of 16 to 20 IQ points.

Certified, grade “A”, genuine Bull Sh*t. Oh sorry, that isn’t very eloquent.

Jews came to Europe almost one thousand years earlier. They were traders, artisans, and did all kinds of jobs. There were smart Jews, strong Jews, dumb Jews, persecuted Jews, converted Jews, hapless and lucky Jews. But you cannot build a unified theory of racism against Jews looking at the facts, so they make up facts, and history. The authors of the study already believed that Jews were racially inferior/superior. Then they built a theory with flimsy and non-existent evidence to back it up. They use some legitimate research to make themselves look good to the untrained eye.

You can read it here.

I looked over their bibliography and as I had suspected, they use Kevin McDonald, a disgraced, Anti-Semitic, Long Beach State professor, as a source. His book A People That Shall Dwell Alone is a antisemitic best-seller of sorts, that laid the groundwork for his racist ideology. The Department of Anthropology, at the University of Utah, where they are based, is the leading positive review of McDonald’s Book. McDonald asserts that a suite of traits that he attributes to Jews, including higher-than-average verbal intelligence and ethnocentricism, have eugenically evolved to enhance the ability of Jews to out-compete non-Jews for resources while undermining the power and self-confidence of the white majorities in Europe and America. Source.

Jews aren’t smarter or dumber. Our cultures value literacy, learning and intellectually curiosity. Sadly, the author, and the LA Times don’t.

Feel free to use your Jewish or Jew-friendly Genes to write a few love letters to the editors, publishers, the owners, and the University of Utah.

And now a word from our friend and teacher, Rav Shmuel – his video “Protocols” has been viewed over 100,000 times and counting:

THAT JEWLICIOUS FEELING!

On stage in the final hour of the record breaking 2009 Festival, BEN PERLSTEIN (LA), Festival Production Manager, and long time Tour Manager for MATISYAHU, steps in on guitar. REB LEIBISH, Montreal’s Ghetto Shul Rabbi on Sax. ADAM WEINBERG (Miami), Matisyahu’s acoustic accompaniment of choice, and Jewlicious Festival’s National Music Director. Filmed by Scott Drucker.

Three days of non-stop fun, music, food, films, workshops, and games. You have to experience Jewlicious to know what its about.

Four more videos and updated YouTube Channel – check it out.

Save the Date – America’s Largest Israel Independence Day Festival is May 3rd, and Jewlicious is proud to be a sponsor. Over 20,000 people are expected at this year’s day-long festival featuring multiple stages, art-fair, food vendors, performances from some of Israel’s biggest acts, games, and other attractions. Entrance is only $5. Stay tuned for more details about the Israel Festival and have a HAPPY PASSOVER!

So tonight is the first official event of the Spring Tour with “Cool Jew Night” @ SUNY Rockland at 7 pm. Rumor has it there is a Cool Jew Contest in the works, cool Maui Wowie drinks to be had, and some kind of Cool Jew cookies in the offing. I’m curious to see it all unfold… S’all free and kosha, so if you’re in the ‘hood, come join in!

Big news: Wednesday may be the first time a Jewlicious presenter hits XM Satellite Radio. Cool Jew will make her debut on XM Channel 156 and Sirius Channel 195 at 5 am, 1pm, 7pm EST. The show will air again Sunday at 7am EST.

If you’re not a subscriber, never fear. For a free three-day trial sub (no credit card required), click here.

At Oprah.com, you can also get more information about Oprah XM Satellite Radio Channel 156 and the “Dr. Maya Angelou Show.”

Meanwhile, stay tuned for deets on the upcoming Jewlicious Passover giveaway sponsored by Cool Jew and Modern Tribe!

OctoDad Press Conference @ OctoMom’s House

A man claiming to be “the real OctoDad” surfaced outside the circus that is Nadya Suleman’s home carrying a turkey baster and three test tubes filled with white liquid. Did someone order takeout?!— TMZ.com

Smooth-E, a veteran of several Jewlicious Festivals, has written a song about the Octomom. Meanwhile, check the video for a really good laugh during this “Octodad Press Conference.”

It’s been a week since the Jewlicious Festival ended. I thought some kind of broad recap would be in order and might even prove to be somewhat instructive to those of you out there who are into that sort of thing, like readers of eJewish Philanthropy or the Fundermentalist. Both of those aforementioned blogs deal with issues related to Jewish philanthropy as well as with organizations and projects they fund. Both have also expressed an interest in issues related to youth, innovation and social entrepreneurship – buzz phrases that one often hears uttered by Jewish organizations both large and small.

As far as the Festival goes, it was in almost every respect a smashing success. We had nearly 1000 Jewish students and young adults enjoy a weekend full of fun, food, music and over 120 individual programs. Our success was due in no small part to a grass roots effort by a large crew of volunteers who helped guide almost every aspect of the weekend’s programing. Add to that both local and national philanthropists and organizations who allowed us to keep costs down while still offering a world class event and you have a supposedly simple recipe for success. Yup, as simple as uniting close to 1000 young Jews representing every denomination and orientation in Judaism for a spirited, fun, educational and inspiring weekend… so much for that whole “2 Jews, three synagogues” malarkey!

Of course nothing is ever quite that simple. Raising funds for this event is a difficult job – to say the least. Most of the large grant making organizations out there do not fund us at all – it’s kind of difficult to compress the totality of what the Festival is into 5 double spaced pages faxed in triplicate by 9am EST. Who even uses fax machines anymore? Very few people in the organized Jewish community really get what we do. Of course we try to be as transparent as possible – you could have tuned in to our UStream channel and watched a live video stream of the madness that was the unofficial Jewlicious office the week before the Festival. Or you could have followed our #Jewlicious tweets. Or read our blogs. Ever try explaining to Fred and Francine Federation what a tweet is? Good luck…

Given the current economic climate, fundraising is even more difficult for an organization like ours. As was mentioned in the recent Jumpstart Survey of New Jewish Organizations, startups like ours “succeed at attracting the exact demographic that established Jewish institutions struggle to reach, at a fraction of the cost in time and resources.” Conversely, the study correctly noted (at least in our case) that Jewish start-ups are feeling the effects of the economic crisis and need collaborative sector-wide support to survive. It is no wonder that 59% of the respondents to the survey reported having already taken action in response to the economy. So yeah. We certainly took action. Thanks to the hard work of Festival Director Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, Long Beach Hillel Director Rachel Bookstein and an army of volunteers, we managed to do more – serving 40% more students than last year – with less money. And it wasn’t easy – the fear and stress in all those late night phone calls and heated meetings was palpable.

(more…)

Anyone in the vicinity of the Alpert JCC in Long Beach last week may have witnessed somewhat of a bizarre sight – a grammy nominated, Hassidic hip hop/reggae artist puttering around the parking lot in a totally sweet Vespa scooter. The Vespa LXV 150 to be exact. It’s a sweet machine, with long standing hipster cred, a highway safe maximum speed of 59 miles per hour and, in keeping with the Greenkeit element of our Festival, capable of 70-75 miles per gallon. Wow. And did I mention that it was hellaciously fun to ride too? Yeah… sometimes running the Jewlicious Festival can be loads of fun! How much fun? Well, Matisyahu owns a Harley and he was still all giggly riding the Vespa. Thank you good people at Vespa for lending us your awesome scooters! As for the rest of the Festival? Check out the pics below:

www.flickr.com Jewlicious’ Jewlicious Festival 5.0 photoset

Obviously more to come later…

Man, we’re working here like pig dogs – meetings, preparations, decorating, organizing, etc. – We can’t believe that in 24 hours 800 people will stream through the doors of the Alpert JCC and the Jewlicious Festival 5.0. Things are all over the place and yet… already we’re getting the nice press. Thank you kind members of the Fifth Estate. Dan Brown over at eJewishPhilanthropy gave us a very kind shout out in a blog post about Jewish LA – he called Jewlicious “largest youth festival of its kind…” We are? Really? Golly, that’s kinda scary…. Also, LA Blueprint, run by the recently wed Miriam-no-longer-Eljas (Mazel Tov! Oooood yishama, beh harei Yehuda….) ran a nice story about the Festival where it was described as follows:

Whatever flavor of Jewish-ness you consider yourself, you’re likely to have a rockin’ time at the Jewlicious Festival 5.0, Feb 27 – March 1 2009, in Long Beach, California, dubbed “an event unlike any other weekend in Jewish history”. Will it compare to the splitting of the sea? I can’t say for sure, but from the music lineup and endless list of activities and programs, it does stand a good chance. Essentially, a Jewish Woodstock, Jewlicious Festival is a three-day gathering to unite Jews from all backgrounds to share a gigantic Shabbat sleepover complete with inspiring discussions and yummy food, rock out with the biggest names in the Jewish music scene, and celebrate all things Jewish.

Finally, the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles wrote a pretty in depth piece about the Festival that included interviews with our staff, presenters and entertainers:

When the first Jewlicious festival, Jewlicious @ The Beach, launched in April 2005, co-founder Rabbi Yonah Bookstein and his team rented out a few rooms at the Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach to host about 100 participants. Four years later, they are booking the entire facility to hold Jewlicious 5.0, which is expected to attract 800 Jewish students and young professionals… At the Saturday night concert, Y-Love, a black Orthodox rapper, will be spitting rhymes on the same stage as Moshav, a Los Angeles-based alternative folk-rock band, and Rav Shmuel, a 6-foot-5 Chasidic rabbi who is popular in New York City’s anti-folk scene. On Sunday afternoon, Inbar Bakal, a secular but traditional Sephardic Jew, will sing her own versions of biblical texts set to old Yemenite melodies. The fact that the bands have very different backgrounds, but all perform over the same weekend, speaks to the festival’s goals of promoting Jewish unity and celebrating Jewish diversity.

So to repeat the common themes – Jews, music, inspiration and unity. Thanks for the kind press – I trust the Festival will live up to the expectations!

Good lord. Talk about hyper connected. I have to remind myself NOT to pick my nose…. So the Jewlicious Festival starts February 27th and we’ll broadcast the prep as well as much of the Festival as we can, including the live show Saturday night (9:30 pm PST). You’ll see frazzled organizers, delirious attendees and lots of cool stuff I am sure. I’m probably going to regret this… enjoy!

Free video streaming by Ustream

LimmudLA was a terrific success and the organizers and their sponsors should be thanked again and again. LA brought out its best and brightest for this weekend retreat. The program was alive, the vibe good, and the entertainment first rate. Sunday’s concert featured a variety of Jewish performers for a PBS style showcase. It was a unique feat, created by Robbie Helperin. Kudos to Linda Fife & Shep Rosenman, conference co-chairs, & Ruthie Rotenberg, Executive Director of LimmudLA, and all the dozens of volunteers.

The LA Times covered the Limmud LA conference, where Rabbi Yonah, Festival Director and Rachel, Program Director, taught sessions this past Presidents Day Weekend. Jewlicious Festival presenters MATISYAHU and Adam Weinberg brought the crowd to their feet with an inspiring acoustic set on Saturday night, then invited everyone to join them at Jewlicious for another round. The LA Times interviewed another JF5 presenter, Avi Averbach, of Jewish World Watch:

“It’s been an amazing weekend. It’s very relaxed, and you’re meeting all these new people from different areas and different parts of Judaism,” said Ari Averbach, 25, who works with Los Angeles-based Jewish World Watch, an organization focused on ending genocide…. Most of the conference sessions were rooted in Jewish traditions with modern adaptations and messages. Read More,,,

Thanks LimmudLA — it was a great weekend.

Aharit HaYamim is Israel’s #1 Festival Band. Aharit’s Israeli reggae, dub and ska groove and sensibility is rooted in a longing for peace and love of Zion they share with their Rastafarian brethren. Aharit proclaim their love for “Yerushalayim” and “Holy Mount Zion” with tight four-part harmonies, layered over thumping bass lines, lush arrangements and extended play instrumentals. They embody the Grateful Dead and Bob Marley rolled into one.

Check them out on MySpace — Please buy your tickets today at BrownPaperTickets.com

NEW TICKETS ON SALE – SUNDAY DAY PASS AND CONCERT TIX details after the break. . . (more…)

Best watched in High Quality Mode.

Festival Tickets are selling very fast for our amazing weekend of music, feasts, and thoughtful investigations into anything Jewlicious. You can buy for the whole weekend, or for just a Saturday night concert, or a Sunday day pass. Anyway you go – you love it.

Buy tix now at BrownPaperTickets.com before they sell out.

These concerts are by far the most ambitious that we have ever conceived. So if you cannot come for the whole festival – we have put on sale a limited number of tickets for Saturday night and for Sunday.

Debut bands this year include Jewdysee all the way from Germany, and Israeli grassroots sensation Aharit Hayamim. Aharit blend the many cultural influences of Israel into one jamming sound. Jewdysee is one of the most exciting acts in all of Europe. Last year Moshav brought down the roof – so we brought them back, as well as internationally acclaimed hip-hop rapper Y-Love. Additional stars of this year’s line-up include, Blue Fringe founder, Dov Rosenblatt, Shempseed creator Erez Safar, aka Diwon and Nosson Zand, who recently toured with Matisyahu. We’ll dance into the night with DJ Eric Rosen & The Twelve Tribes.

Also enjoy the amazing and intense music of these fine performers— Adam Weinberg, J. Kleinberg, Inbar Bakal, David Finlay Quartet, Kosha Dilz, and a surprise guest or two. We are thrilled to announce that the Concert Series will be musically MC’d by Jewlicious fan favorite Rav Shmuel, back by popular demand.

Advance Ticket Price: $ 20
Door Ticket Price: $ 25

Click here, select Feb. 28 from the drop-down menu, buy some tickets today!

We asked every performer to prepare a greeting to the participants of Jewlicious Festival. We think they are pretty clever. Some are made just this week – and a few are classic videos they submitted to highlight their work. We think you’ll find them all very entertaining.

Thanks to all the bands that recorded these fantastic videos. we also can’t wait to see you for JF5

JEWLICIOUS GOES VIRAL

Rav Shmuel
Y-Love
Diwon
Kosha Dillz
Nosson Zand
Dov Rosenblatt

OK, so today’s holiday of Tu B’Shvat is in fact about the trees – it’s the new year of the trees in fact. Customs related to this holiday include planting trees, eating dry fruit and nuts – especially almonds which are in bloom in Israel at this time. Tsfat Mystic Rabbi Isaac Luria instituted a Tu B’Shvat seder where special meaning was ascribed to the fruits and nuts of the land of Israel.

So clearly we can see an ecological element to this holiday. Thus this is an opportune time to mention the various green initiatives that will be taking place at the Jewlicious Festival. First of all, in keeping with our Greenkeit Manifesto, the Jewlicious Festival will be run in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Our Sunday morning event is a very “green” bike ride to the beach where breakfast will be served. Do check out the Greenkeit manifesto as it contains tips that you can use even outside the context of the Festival – like the suggestion that you uh… shower with a buddy…

Of course with all this talk of trees blooming and sap running and people showering together, one cannot ignore the bootylicious aspects of this season. I know that in most of the US and Europe it’s still very cold but here in Israel, even in Jerusalem, the weather’s been positively balmy. Everyone seems to be in a good mood and it might not be a bad opportunity to, you know, fill your dance card.

One of our long term supporters, JMatch.com has certainly been doing its share to make it easy and fun to find Jewish activity partners of the opposite sex. A recent visit to their site shows services like live chat, live video conferencing and a bevvy of babes with whom you can uh… share a shower with. Less water for you, more water for agriculture! Check out JMatch.com – do it for the trees! I’m not kidding. There’s a facebook group for people in Israel who want to preserve water resources by bathing together. This is serious you guys!

See you at Jewlicious Festival 5.0!