On the occasion of my eldest’s bat mitzvah which took place this past Sunday, I got to thinking about what it means to be the parent of a child who becomes a bat mitzvah – and an Orthodox one at that. In my pre-observant days, my bat mitzvah was mostly about memorizing the Torah portion, […]

There’s a new “Cheerleader” in town – a song that’s been playing on the radio (and now in my head) non-stop. At first blush, it seems kind of sweet: the singer “OMI” (don’t ask me why there are only capital letter in his name – at least he has one) found a wonderful girl, even […]

Worrying doesn’t just run in the women of my family – it does marathons. And after hearing about a child abuse case in a pre-school California in the early 80’s, my mother was terrified of all the horrible ways my sisters and I could be kidnapped, killed, and molested (though not necessarily in that order). […]

On my daughter’s third birthday, she asked me what happens after you die. (Now you’re probably wondering how the heck we celebrate birthdays around here, but don’t worry, we do plenty of life affirming activities such as cake-eating and present-opening – very much like normal people, in fact.) The question came up because I had […]