December 2011 I spoke to Dina the other day. She was having a hard time dealing with the recent anniversary of her daughter’s death. She told me that before the actual day, things are always busy with planning the yearly memorial service, so emotions are held in check. But afterwards, she finds herself left to … Read more
October 2011 I found myself daydreaming last night while washing the dishes from dinner. My sink looks out onto our porch where our Feast of Tabernacle booth, our Sukka, stands, slightly darkening the kitchen. The Feast of Tabernacles is one of my favorite Jewish holidays. Maybe because it comes on the heels of the High … Read more
March 2010 In just two weeks, Jews from all over the world will be sitting down to the Pesach Seder, the festive meal that opens the Passover holiday. It is a culmination of weeks of preparation and anticipation. Everyone—young and old, religiously observant and secular—sits down at their holiday table, whether at a communal Seder … Read more
Oktober 2011 Een vlugge blik op de meest recente gebeurtenissen in het Midden-Oosten laat zien dat de Palestijnse acties in de VN waarschijnlijk de minste problemen voor ons zijn. De zogenaamde Arabische lente, uitgebroken in de afgelopen winter, sleepte Arabische volken in Noord Afrika en het Midden Oosten mee in een roep om grotere … Read more
I love when my kids get to the age that they’re old enough to start learning some basic prayers and to recite the blessings before eating. It’s an awesome privilege. But it’s a challenge. After all, you’re teaching a child the joy of communicating directly with G-d on a personal level—You’re telling him that he … Read more
I told myself I would start my diet after the Shavuot holiday, but it’s taken a week to finish the last few leftover pieces of cheesy lasagna and rich noodle pudding. And just last night, I took a spoon and scraped out the last few creamy crumbs of our Shavuot cheesecake from the pan in … Read more
From the time Jewish children are young, it is instilled in them, through their parents, their teachers, their spiritual leaders, that one of the highest forms of service to G-d is getting married and having children. In the beginning of the Bible, when G-d finishes his miraculous Creation, He looks upon his beautiful world and … Read more
School started a few weeks ago in Israel. On the first day, we don’t yet have the children’s schedules, so when I packed the boys’ knapsacks, I just put in a fully stocked pencil case, a sandwich and a water bottle. I left all of the new text books and workbooks at home until further … Read more
September 2009 The other night Kuti and I came home to find my daughter Ahuva in the den, spools of colorful crocheting thread spilled next to her on the couch. Earlier that evening, before we left, Ahuva had just finished the last stitch on a beautiful blue kippah, trimmed with a few rows of intricately … Read more
Coming of age. Rites of passage. Somehow, to me this brings to mind images of a boy in a loincloth, holding a sword in one hand and a sack of grain in the other, going off into the woods to kill his first bear. Or someone breaking out a bottle of bubbling champagne and drinking … Read more