• "Integrate a Jewish calendar into your regular calendar. There are free downloads for most calendars. Or, if you use a paper calendar, buy one with Jewish dates. I like the Jewish calendar supplements created by www.jewishcalendartools.com. They include information about the holiday and commentary on the Torah portion. This powerful tool was created by my seminary classmate Rabbi Dan Moskovitz.
• "Plan ahead for Jewish holidays so you can take time off when appropriate or make plans to celebrate some other way.
• "Create Jewish-only or Jewish-majority space for a dinner, a trip, or a movie so that people feel comfortable expressing themselves as Jews.
• "Invite Israeli college students studying in your community over for dinner or a holiday.
• "Learn how to say the Motzi and say it before you eat. To learn, visit www.GodUpgrade.com/motzi.
• "Bake traditional Jewish dishes with an elder. (This might be your grandmother, mother, or aunt, or someone you meet in the community.) Write down their recipes. (Ignore when they say, 'Oh, honey, it's not exact. Just add a little of this and a touch of that.' Tell them your rabbi said you need the exact measurements!)
• "Check out Jewish architecture and art in public spaces, such as Marc Chagall's windows at Lincoln Center in New York City. Often old synagogues have been converted to new uses but you can still see the beautiful architecture.
• "Listen to Jewish comedians or watch them on YouTube. Judaism has a long history of humor. After all, humor is one of the finest ways of dealing with tragedy. Jews were instrumental in the start of the cartoon and comic industry in the United States and have a disproportional presence in the comedic world.
• "Read autobiographies about Jewish people. From Ruth Bader Ginsberg to Albert Einstein, Jews have had a profound impact on our world. Twenty-two percent of the individual recipients of Nobel Prizes between 1901 and 2009 have been Jewish, although Jews make up only approximately 0.2 percent of the world's population.
• "When traveling, find and visit the Jewish community, museums, cemetery, or other sites and tour the Jewish part of town. Attend a synagogue for worship service.
• "Light candles on Friday evening. If it feels lonely, call a friend and do it together over the phone or on Skype.
• "Host a Passover Seder with a friend. If you like to cook, let your friend lead the service. If you like to lead, let him cook.
• "Seek out Jewish-themed stories, books, and films. You can learn a great deal about Jewish history, culture, and practice through our literature and films. It is also a wonderful way to connect with the language and vocabulary of the Jewish People.
• "If you have children in your life, sign them up for PJ Library (www.pjlibrary.org), an award-winning initiative of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that mails free, quality Jewish-content books and music to children age six months to eight years. It's a great way to build Jewish identity.
• "Instead of making New Year's resolutions at the beginning of the secular year (January 1), make them for the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
• "Hang Jewish art in your home.
• "Display Judaica, such as a menorah, dreidel, and shofar, around your house.
• "Hang a mezuzah on your doorway. (For instructions and the klaf, the prayer that goes inside, visit www.GodUpgrade.com/mezuzah.)
• "When buying gifts for Jewish people, buy Jewish books, Jewish art, menorahs, challah covers, and the like.
• "When writing a check for a charity or as a gift, give denominations of $18 ($18, $36, $54, $3,600, and so on). The Hebrew language predates the Arabic numeral system. So, since the ancient Hebrews didn't have 1, 2, 3, each letter was assigned a number value. The letter aleph = 1, bet = 2, and so on. Therefore, it is possible to take a word and replace each letter with its numeral equivalent. The Hebrew word for life, chai, if converted to numbers, equals 18. Therefore, to celebrate life, Jews use the number 18 and denominations of it. By giving in denominations of $18, you link your gift to Jewish teachings, such as caring for others and celebrating with each other.
• "Learn to make matzah balls. (They are actually very easy to make, and who doesn't love a good matzah ball? My favorite recipe is at www.GodUpgrade.com/matzahball.) Perhaps you would enjoy collecting favorite Jewish recipes from family or friends and make a gift book to share.
• "Figure out who sells challah in your town and which is the best one! Make challah French toast with the leftovers. (Buy an extra loaf so there are leftovers!)"
