ne With Us _1112 Valentin
Sattrday and Sunday Brunch 8a
Seeing
Red
Jews in the heart
of Valentine's Day.
I
Edmon J. Rodman
JNS.org
I s the heart of Valentine's Day
thumping to a Jewish beat?
Yes, I know that Feb, 14's murky
origins lie in a third-century martyred
priest named Valentine, and that Jews
in modern-day Israel already have a
lesser-known day of love, Tu B'Av, that
is celebrated each summer and is a
popular day for weddings.
But that doesn't mean all Jews have
been left out of the run-up to red day.
In fact, we're creators and purveyors of
part of the day's pop culture — some
of the flowers, candies and even card
designs that are popular on Valentine's
Day have a Jewish connection.
Not that we spent earlier times deny-
ing our feelings of love. In the Bible,
Shir HaShirim (The Song of Songs) can
be read as erotically charged, complete
with seductive kisses, sensual fragranc-
es and the longings of love.
In medieval Spain, hundreds
of years before the Rolling Stones
performed "Let's Spend the Night
Together;' Sephardic Jews were writ-
ing Ladino love songs like "The Rosa
Enflorece" ("The Rose Blooms").
In 1937, the Jewish songwriting
team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz
Hart wrote for their Broadway musi-
cal Babes in Arms the only song about
Valentine's Day to become famous:
"My Funny Valentine
In the 1970s, Jewish designer Milton
Glaser created perhaps the most
influential heart design ever — the
"I V New York" logo.
Sweetening the day, especially for
observant Jews, is the candy business,
with many chocolate companies such
as Godiva, See's and Fannie May offer-
ing kosher Valentine's Day options.
A company called Oh! Nuts offers
heart-shaped kosher jelly "I Love You"
lollipops.
Israel's flower business also has
blossomed for Valentine's Day —
with Israeli flower growers selling
red varieties of anemone, buttercups,
gerbera and lilies for the holiday in
Europe, Asia and the U.S.
In 2013, Israel's Flower Growers
Association said it expected the coun-
try to export some 60 million roses,
orchids, Bonsai trees and other flowers
for Valentine's Day.
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"Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
This Valentine's Day
I made a donation to:
In honor of you:'
Of course, come Valentine's Day, you
could still deny any Jewish association
with the occasion — correctly noting
that it's just not on the Jewish calen-
dar. You could. But as you explain that
to your significant other, the day could
turn red anyway.
❑
Edmon J. Rodman writes on Jewish life
from Los Angeles.
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For those who believe that love
(or is it Valentine's Day?) can make
strange bedfellows, another Israeli
company, the Flower Council, has
become the biggest exporter of flow-
ers grown by Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, in addition
to handling Israeli flower exports,
according to Ha'aretz.
To end the day with a romantic ges-
ture, or more, there is the New York-
based "Kosher Sex Toys" website —
created to help "happily married cou-
ples enhance their intimate moments:'
That is, enhancement without "crude
or indecent pictures or text:'
Young Jewish adults are looking at
Valentine's Day as a way to draw in
participants. Since the holiday falls on
a Friday night this year, the Franklin &
Marshall College Hillel in Lancaster,
Penn., is sponsoring an "(Anti)
Valentine's Day Shabbat Dinner."
In Los Angeles, a progressive syna-
gogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim, is
organizing a "Valentine's Day: Jewish
LGBT Speed Dating" event for Feb.
15. "Meet one-on-one with a bunch of
other singles to see who you click with
and want to see again for a second
date!" reads the blurb on their website.
Nudging the holiday even more
into line with Jewish life — particu-
larly the mitzvah of tzedakah — the
Charles and Lynn Shusterman Family
Foundation, a nonprofit "rooted in
Jewish values:' is offering a heart-
shaped image for download. Noting
that people "are rebooting Valentine's
Day as Generosity Day:' the founda-
tion made available a Valentine's Day
card with this message:
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