My parents made me a big bat mitzvah – like black-tie-affair-on-a-yacht-cruising-around-Manhattan-harbor-with-a-hundred-and-fifty-of-our-closest-family-and-friends big. But they weren’t just the people that planned the party and paid for it. They saw me through all my years of Hebrew school and bat mitzvah lessons. They helped me write my speeches and made me practice them. And although we had […]

My second day as a working mother began with a bus ride to drop my 5 week old baby with his sitter. I prepared as best as I could, mapping the route in advance, checking the MTA schedule, packing a diaper bag, bottles of pumped milk, and my own lunch. I would soon discover how […]

As I rode the bus on the way home from work, I tried to grade papers, but given the close quarters, it was hard not to overhear the conversations of the other riders. Most of them discussed the weather with their seatmate or spoke with a friend over their cell phone. After several new passengers boarded at […]

It was a typical Thursday afternoon at my local kosher market here in L.A. Jews of all stripes wandered the aisles grabbing meat, rice, and vegetables for Shabbos. As I picked out the “perfect” package of chicken breasts – not too big and not too small – I noticed a mother and daughter who stood out from the […]

I have always considered myself an open-minded, non-judgmental person. As a kid, although we were not particularly religious, my parents were strict that that my sisters and I had to marry someone Jewish (for the sake of Jewish continuity), but they were  always very clear that it did not matter what color or ethnicity the […]

After experiencing the death of my father over three months ago, I have decided to share some thoughts, in the hope that they can help all who try to comfort mourners during such difficult times. Specifically, I will focus on aspects of the funeral, the shiva (seven days of mourning) and post shiva. Some may be surprised […]