Summer Reading Giveaway!

PopJudaica.com is celebrating summer with a Summer Reading Giveaway - a prize packaged valued at over $100.00 which includes the following books and a Schlep tote bag to schlep them around in!

To enter to win, tell us your favorite Jewish author or Jewish themed book. Leave your answer in the comments section below by Midnight PT Thursday, June 25th. Be sure to also leave your email or twitter handle so we can contact you if you are the winner! Note: This contest is only open to residents of the US and Canada. Be sure to follow us on twitter - we'll be tweeting out the winner!

Cool Jew by Lisa Alcalay Klug. Cool Jew is a must read for every member of the Tribe! The book covers everything Hebraic from womb to tomb, finally putting an end to Christmas tree envy. Short essays, lists, instructional guides, photographs, and original illustrations celebrate Jewish cultural pride with love, enthusiasm, and irreverence.

Bar Mitzvah Disco Remember the year when you turned Lucky 13? The authors of Bar Mitzvah Disco take you on a journey to a parallel universe, where tall girls slow-danced with short boys at arm’s length, suburban break-dance pioneers vied with Lionel Richie fanatics for dance-floor space, and Aunt Edna came ready to mount an assault on the dessert buffet.

Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat by Meredith Jacobs.
Written in conversational style from one modern Jewish mom to another, the MJM's Guide is funny and warm, brightly colored and easy to read book, filled with delicious, easy recipes and family art projects, suggested family discussion topics. No matter your level of religious observance, this book appeals to all.

Yom Kippur A Go-Go by Matthue Roth. Yom Kippur A Go-Go is a mind-blowing meeting of pop culture, Orthodox faith, and hipster poetics. With humor and insight, Roth describes the tension between contemporary life and the demands of his Orthodox faith.

My Jesus Year by Benyamin Cohen. Raised as an Orthodox Jew and the son of a rabbi, Benyamin Cohen grew up fascinated by the church across the street from his childhood home. Struck by a crisis of faith, and not long after marrying the converted daughter of a Baptist minister, he decided to see if Jesus could lead him back to Judaism by embarking on an Oz-like journey on which he visited a myriad of denominational churches. In the end, Cohen found that his yarmulke had similar powers as Dorothy's red shoes.

For some other great summer reading ideas, visit us here at Pop Judaica!

Mayim Bialik's Kosher Comeback!

You probably remember Mayim Bialik for her lead role in the early-1990s NBC television sitcom Blossom. Wonder what she's been up to since? After starring in Blossom she earned a BS from UCLA in 2000 in Neuroscience and in Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, also from UCLA. Bialik was a dedicated student leader at UCLA Hillel, leading and starting a women's Rosh Chodesh group, chanting for High Holiday services, and conducting UCLA's Jewish a cappella group. She is currently a board member, co-founder, and chair of Jewish Free Loan Association's Genesis branch, and as an avid student of all things Jewish, she studies Torah on a weekly basis with a study mentor through Partners In Torah.

Lately, Mayim has been making what can best be described as a "Kosher Comeback." It seemed to have started with an innocent appearance of her Blossom doll in Pop Judaica's Passover segment on the Modern Jewish Mom show. Then there was this post on Jewcy, where she was interviewed about her growing level of religious observance. Today, her Jewish wedding is profiled on Jewish Wedding Network, and this Friday she'll be made over by the folks at What Not to Wear. (Shabbos observant Jews: Be sure to set your DVRs!) Word has it that they make sure to dress her modestly on the show. She'll also be playing a frum woman in an upcoming episode of Saving Grace, so stay tuned!

Mayim's interest in Judaism does not seem to be anything new though. We dug up this clip from 1989's Chabad Telethon which proves that even in her Blossom days, she was into mitzvot!


Mayim Bialik is schlepping the schlep tote from PopJudaica.com

Spock's Jewish Roots

Greetings Trekkies! Did you know that actor Leonard Nimoy, who starred as Star Trek's Mr. Spock, modeled the the famous "Live Long and Prosper" hand salute after the the sign of the Kohen? Watch this interview where he explains the Jewish origins of this Vulcan salute:

Customer Spotlight: A Passover Invitation

Every once in a while, a special PopJudaica.com customer comes to our attention, and we just have to kvell! That was the case with Meredith O. who contacted us to share the Passover Seder invitation that she had emailed to her friends. We loved it so much, we wanted to share it with you (Just don't go showing up at Meredith's Seder unannounced!)

From: Meredith O
Subject: Invitation: Passover Seder on April 9th
Date: Friday, March 27, 2009, 4:13 PM

Hi All,

The new housemate trio just happens to all be members of the tribe! And well, you know what that means... curly hair, Jewish humor and lots of good food (amongst other things)! And mostly importantly, an awesome Passover Seder.

Liz, Shaine and myself are hosting Passover Seder on the 2nd night of the holiday this year and we'd be delighted if you would join us in retelling the story of the exile from Egypt: our favorite superhero, stories of revenge and calls to action, oy vey and amen!

When: Thursday, April 9th
Time: 6:30pm
Where: Our new house, SF

Please RSVP to let us know if you're coming. Bringing a dish is appreciated, so let us know if you have something in mind or would like to be assigned something.

Lastly, significant others are invited as well, but also let us know if you're able to bring along any of these, should you know of any. Others are also appreciated, but we'll just use the breath spray.

The NJG's of SF --
Meredith, Liz and Shaine

Would you like to be featured in our next Customer Spotlight? Email us at Info(at)PopJudaica.com with customer spotlight in the subject line!

Barbie, Ken, and Moses!

We were recently featured in Modern Jewish Mom's Passover segment on The Jewish Channel (TJC) It highlights some of our quirky Passover traditions. Do you have any special Passover traditions of your own? Share them with us in the comments section!

Manischewitz Cook-Off: And the winner is....

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of attending the annual The Simply Manischewitz Cook-Off event in New York City where Amy Siegal of Clifton, New Jersey was proclaimed the winner for her Mediterranean Falafel Sliders. (Not to brag or anything, but we knew once we tasted them that she had the winning recipe. Her falafel sliders were SOOOO good!)

Well, we got a hold of the winning recipe and wanted to share it with you. Manischewitz has also agreed to give away their Manischewitz Falafel Mix (the secret ingredient!) and a bunch of other great Manischewitz products to one lucky Chosen Blog reader. All you have to do is leave the name of your favorite Manischewitz product in the comments section below by Midnight 3/16/09. And without further a do, here is the winning recipe:

Marvelous Mediterranean Falafel Sliders

1 envelope Manischewitz falafel mix
2 lb.Ground turkey*
1 cup Mint leaves, chopped
1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 Large Bermuda onion, thinly sliced
1 can Ready to serve Tehina
12 3-inch rolls
1 head Bibb lettuce, washed and patted dry
Manischewitz non-stick cooking spray
Ground black pepper Water

1.In a large mixing bowl, combine falafel mix, turkey, mint leaves, black pepper to taste and 3-4 tablespoons cold water to moisten. Shape mixture into 12 small patties. Heat a grill pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Grill patties for 3-5 minutes per side, until no longer pink in center. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and Bermuda onion. Sauté for 10-12 minutes, until softened and golden. In a small bowl, stir together tehina with ¼ cup water. Add more water to make a thinner sauce, if desired, set aside. Heat rolls in a 250 degree F oven for 5 minutes or until warm.

2. To assemble slider; on a plate, place bottom of roll, lettuce leaf, cooked patty, onions, 1 tbsp tehina, and top of roll. Garnish with additional chopped mint leaves. Serve remaining tehina sauce on the side for dipping.
*You can use regular and light varieties of ground turkey however the regular variety works best in this recipe.

Enjoy!

One Kippah, Two Kippahs, Three Kippahs, Autograph!

(photo credit: seattlepi.com)

It was Mae West who said "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful," and in the case of yarmulkes, for one man at least, this couldn't be more accurate.

Jonathan Challet, a Seattle kippah connoisseur, is known for his collection of unusual yarmulkes. We know what you're thinking, too many kippahs can be overwhelming -- you get them at bar mitzvahs, weddings, and a dozen other happy events in the Jewish calendar. But Challet has managed to make his kippah collection one that isn't meant to be stored away. No, he doesn't wear them, he keeps them in his car, on the off chance he might run into someone famous, and boy has he: the eclectic collection of signatures on the head coverings includes Barack Obama, Elvis Costello, Uma Thurman, Ray Allen and Annie Leibowitz.

As a result, 32 of his kippahs are now on display in Seattle at the University of Washington's Odegaard Undergraduate Library from through April 30. It's definitely a case of religion meeting culture meeting politics meeting art colliding with chutzpah!

I'm guessing Challet is probably going to start a trend. We have our Obamicas in hand just in case we happen to run into the man himself, but if that doesn't pan out there's always the Poker Yarmulke, which we might be able to get Jennifer Tilly (actress AND poker champ!) to sign, or maybe once the Obama girls settle on a dog, we can get the presidential pooch to put down a paw on the Dog Yarmulke and Tallis?