We are naturally wired to want freedom. No one sets out to follow as many rules as possible. But just as a soccer game offers the pleasure of competition and exercise, and a recipe offers the satisfactory result of something delicious to eat, Judaism, too, promises a more meaningful life. There are requirements, it’s true. […]

Last week, Julia Haart appeared as a guest on the Tamron Hall show and when asked about her divorce, she sighed and replied that her divorce took eight years. She segued into a description about the laws of Jewish divorce where a women in “her world” have to ask their husbands for a gett in […]

For most of elementary school, I was the only Jewish girl in a class of over eighty kids. There were a couple of Jewish boys. While I was secular during my childhood, everyone in school knew I was a Jew. A neighbor called me a “Jewish jerk” and made guttural noises one day to explain that […]

In June, Variety features editor, Malina Saval, penned an important article: Too Jewish For Hollywood: As Antisemitism Soars, Hollywood Should Address Its Enduring Hypocrisy In Hyperbolic Caricatures of Jews where she discusses how Jewish parts in movies are often played by gentiles, as Jews are considered too unappealing to be on screen. Additionally, Saval notes […]

Last week, a Sephardic member of our shul (synagogue) asked me which Middle Eastern country my family comes from. “None,” I explained, “We’re Ashkanazi.” “Really?” he exclaimed, “I was certain you were Sephardic.” After this encounter, I got to thinking: despite being completely Ashkanazi, with both sides of my family hailing from Ukraine, Russia and […]

“Shang-Chi is a breakthrough for Asian representation,” a Washington Post headline read. It caught my eye when my 12 year old son asked if we could see the movie a couple weeks ago. “Good job,” I thought. It reminded me of another headline I saw over the summer in the Hollywood Reporter, “We Are Lady Parts’ Is […]