Why do I (almost) turn into someone else on Passover?

I admit that I am fairly uptight about what foods I will serve my kids. We buy mostly organic produce, local dairy and eggs, and absolutely no foods with trans-fats or high fructose corn syrup. The effect on my daughters’ taste buds has been uneven. My five year old loves vegetables and brown rice and [...]

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Overheard

5 year old: Get OUT of my chair. 3 year old (in tears): You’re acting like Pharoah!

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Home-shuling at Shul

Our house is very small – two bedrooms, a 13×13 eat-in kitchen, a living room and a sunroom, but no dining room. Consequently, it’s very hard to have more than one other family over for shabbat dinner. In fact, hosting even one other family of four requires exiling the children to eat in the sun [...]

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More Alef-Bet

Every month I write a column about Jewish children’s books for the PJ Library newsletter. My new column about Michelle Edwards book, Alef-Bet, came out today. It goes something like this: When I was a child, the very first stories I read about Israel were from K’tonton in Israel, a book about a thumb-sized boy [...]

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This Jewish Life

Many years ago, there was a story on This American Life about some guys who attempted to use scientific data to create the world’s most annoying song. Admittedly, I love almost everything on this American Life, and it’s not just because Ira Glass was the magician at my 4th birthday party. (Really! It’s true!) But [...]

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Making seders kid-friendly: A contest!

  As Passover approaches, I’m seeking your best ideas for making the seder fun and meaningful for children. Last month I wrote a column for the PJ Library about our family’s re-enactment of the Exodus from Egypt. You can read it here.   What’s worked (or backfired) for you? Share your ideas – I’ll choose [...]

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And the winner is…..

Phyllis, aka Ima on the Bima, whose name was selected from the list by Random.org! Enjoy your Alef-Bet Yoga for Kids poster, compliments of Kar-Ben. Mazel Tov!

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Something Jewish about breastfeeding

I spent the afternoon with my friend Tanya today, who writes a fantastic breastfeeding blog for Motherwear. I promised I would write “something Jewish about breastfeeding” for her.  “The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.” Genesis 21:8-21   It might be hard to imagine [...]

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Using up chametz

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be trying to use up all of our chametz – the wheat, oats, barley, rye and spelt products in our kitchen – to prepare for Passover. (The rye and spelt part will be a snap.) Whatever we don’t consume, we give to non-Jewish friends, but I enjoy having an [...]

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Should I stay or should I go?

A couple of weeks ago I posted a listed of reasons to join a shul. My #1 reason? It’s not going to get any better without you. But what if you’re starting to wonder whether it can get any better, even with you? We’ve been members of the same synagogue for almost as long as [...]

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