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. […]
A friend did a great kindness for my family and me, so I went to buy her flowers. White hydrangeas, pale yellow roses and bright yellow spray roses adorned my cart at Trader Joe’s as I proceeded to do my weekly shop. Somewhere along the way, I jarred the flowers while I was loading up. […]
Everything has a season, and for Jews this is the season of introspection, making amends and beginning anew. The High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are our chance to start over again. It’s not the kind of fresh start that is as if nothing has happened, because if you’ve lived a year, […]
It did not take 72 years for me to decide what I wanted to do with my life. It only took eight. That is when I graduated to reading real books. The first two that I read were Little Women and Black Beauty, two novels that opened worlds for me. I discovered that I could […]
When I was a kid, I didn’t really believe in modern anti-semitism. So I found it surprising when I was asked to speak on the topic for the You Speak, We Listen: Together We Stand event, a quarterly virtual storytelling event for women created by author Alyssa Berthiaume to empower women to tell their stories. […]
In just a short time, Jews all over the world and from all walks of life will once again read the beautiful Purim story. It’s one for the ages: how the Jewish People were saved through the hands of Esther and Mordechai from a bitter enemy that threatened our annihilation. There are so many layers […]
