Category: religiousness
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Our prayer.
There’s something about our prayer in Judaism – it’s timeless. That’s out of necessity, out of an evergreen survival mode; but some periods of survival are more… necessity than others. I think that’s what fueled the magnet that drew me, compelled me, to shul this past shabbat. I had to be among those communal words,…
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Resolving global conflict, one workplace drama at a time.
How can we turn the experience of workplace conflict into a productive part of our personal, communal, religious and national selves?
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Hear o’ Israel, it’s never too late for an old school prayer.
I hadn’t said the Shema in earnest or even in unearnest in over a decade. Like riding a bicycle or worshipping a childhood god, the words are not forgotten once you start to move your mouth. The מ’s are plentiful; an exercise for the lips. The ך’s, too, are plentiful; an age-old exercise in patience…
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On hope, afterlife, dreaming.
A couple months ago Koala and I had a ‘yom kef’ together and visited the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, where a central feature is Ancient Egypt and of course, everyone’s favorite – the mummy. We read the signs. the child-friendly materials, we saw the coffin, we saw pictures. For a few weeks after that,…
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What’s next for my girls in Judaism?
The following is a note I jotted down and posted for opinions on Facebook. I plan to follow up with further thoughts after a discussion was started and I had time to think deeper. need to talk this out somewhere. sometimes I hear friends say how nervous or worried they are about raising girls because…
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The State of Jerusalem Pride 2015: lovers love, haters hate
‘Why do we have parades?’ My 6yo kept puzzling over that one. ‘We have parades to say something.’ He wanted to know what we’re saying now. ‘We’re saying that love is good, everyone can love whoever they want.’ ‘Why are there rainbows?’ ‘Because there are so many kinds of love.’ The kids will probably remember…
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Local Holocaust remembrance in 2015 and beyond
Since becoming a mom, everything has gotten harder to swallow. I don’t read the news as much. Especially local evening news from New York. I can’t stomach certain facts of life. And I’ve distanced myself from my cultural ties with Holocaust education and remembrance. Which is getting easier to do – less voices, more distance…
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Is it possible to raise modern kids with a less gendered tone? And other thoughts on my tzitzit-wearing daughter
Here’s how my kids tell it: This morning, Koala offered Bebe a pair of tzitzit to wear today. Note that this on the heels of last week’s Bebe deciding to wear a kippa to gan (and actually doing it the whole day – I was more impressed hair-wise!). So Bebe accepted his offer. I walked…
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So that controversial Tzur Hadassah mikvah grand opening happened.
So many mixed feelings. We moved here knowing there was no working mikva, and it may or may not get fixed one day. I’d say the same of most of the people who will end up using the now open-to-public-but-still-waiting-on-a-few-details Tzur Hadassah mikva. And it’s a pretty diverse but reasonable bunch – I’m guessing mostly…
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A peek at Tzur Hadassah’s first and only mikvah [PHOTOS]
It’s been nearly a decade, I believe, but here it is – started with allotted government funds, ended with a generous donation – the long-despised, the long-awaited, Tzur Hadassah mikvah. The ‘grand opening’ ceremony was earlier this evening. I was totally surprised to find a facility on par with American/Australian counterparts: The reception: The bridal…
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Baking ‘hamantaschen’ with your Israeli children.
Ears of a guy we’re meant to love to hate. Jews: still rocking weird drama since 3338. First time making hamantaschen with my kids. Or as an adult. FYI: as you and the diaspora-born father of your kids keep talking about ‘hamentashen,’ your Israeli-born kids are bound to, at some point, look at you oddly. “Oh.…
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Homemade Purim costumes. No pricey. No sexy.
This is the first year we had strong Purim costume requests… from two kids. ‘Hello Kitty’ I got pretty quick. Once I figured out what צב צבי נינג’ה meant, I spent a few days hinting at other ideas because after a quick look at Pinterest I decided this would be too hard. But I won’t lie:…