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Bridal Show

1-Retirement

Between The Pages

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When holiday magazines
arrive, replete with ideas for
hand-painted eggs, fragrant
pomander balls and gumdrop
trees, it's easy for Jewish fam-
ilies to feel excluded.
But thanks to Rita Milos
Brownstein, crafty Martha
Stewart wannabes can now
celebrate the Jewish holi-
days with panache.
How about a honey-
tasting party for Rosh
Hashana, a "sukka by the
sea," handmade pillows
for your seder guests,
matza vases or silvery
organza gelt bags for
Chanuka?
In Jewish Holiday
Style (Simon &
Marrying Martha Shuster; $27.50), the
Stewart style with former art director of
House Beautiful and
Jewish tradition.

Good Housekeeping

mer ican Heart Asso

magazines

9/24
1999

94 Detroit Jewish News

provides
home-entertainment and decorating
ideas, recipes and family projects for
nine holidays.
The book is not for everybody, par-

Control high
blood pressure

ticularly those who cannot stomach
the thought of making marzipan drei-
del cookies or turning leftover baking-
powder tins into tzedakah boxes. But
what saves the book from becoming
an over-the-top Jewish rendition of
Stewart's shtick is its genuinely reli-
gious orientation. Brownstein is the
daughter of survivors, and her concern
and passion for Judaism permeate
throughout.
The book begins with the oft-quot-
ed words from Ecclesiastes,
"Everything has its season, and there is
a time for everything under heaven."
The book then proceeds to show how
beautifying or enhancing a mitzva
hiddur mitzva in Hebrew —
also infuses one's celebration with an
added aura of spirituality.
"The holiest of times," the book
says, "brings out the best in us, com-
pelling us to make our small corner of
the world the most special place to be.
They envelop our loved ones like a
beautiful, rich cloak of happiness, of
wonder."
Sometimes Jewish Holiday Style is
a bit rich for the blood. The sugges-
tion that one think of Yom Kippur
as a day spa for the soul" can grate
the sensibilities. But if one can sus-

"