She was pleasant enough as she got her luggage in place and we found our seats. There was no way I could anticipate what would come next.  Gum cracking. One. Straight. Hour. Of gum cracking, as I helplessly sat there – a prisoner of noise (popping) pollution – tethered to a seat 30,000 feet in […]

There was an outbreak, and we were likely exposed. At least that’s how it went in my dream. Since my subconscious appears to be more intrigued by French-Canadian side dishes than it is knowledgable of medical terms, the name of the fake disease I concocted was “poutina,” which I’m quite certain is based on “poutine” […]

When I logged onto Facebook yesterday at around 5pm, the first thing I saw was a status update, “Oh no, Mayim!” linked to an article entitled, “Mayim Bialik Hospitalized in Car Wreck, May Lose Finger.” I was in shock. I had just spoken to Mayim the night before. We were supposed to learn later that […]

“Lashon hara is geshmake,” (“Gossip is tasty,”) my rabbi announced to my seminary class years ago. My first inclination was to think, “Oh, no Rabbi, you too?!” But then I realized that God created our world so that gossip would be delicious to most people. Of course there are those who simply have no taste for […]

“I’d like to be more religious, but having a career is very important to me. If I became Orthodox, I wouldn’t be allowed to work,” Rachel explained to me over the phone. “Really?” I responded. “Which commandment in the Torah states, ‘thou shall not work if you’re a woman?’” Rachel, of course, had no source to […]