Tell me how you do it

At the end of August, I’ll be going back to work full time for the first time since Ella was born, six years ago. It was too good of an offer to refuse – I’ll be teaching at the day school where Ella attends, and Zoe will attend in a year, which means that I [...]

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Getting it right – the bar/bat mitzvah party

  I tutor seven or eight kids a year for their bar mitzvah ceremonies, and consequently I attend a lot of parties. In fact, it’s become my husband’s and my main source of dates, since both hiring a sitter and paying to go out is rare splurge for us. Attending these events, I’m often reminded [...]

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But is it good for the Jews?

  Here are the girls and I heading off to buy some challah on our brand new Xtracycle. I recently accepted a full time job for next year, and decided to splurge on something that I’d wanted for a long time. We’ve had our SUB* for 3 days and we’ve already gone to the grocery [...]

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What’s in a name for an interfaith family?

written for the July PJ Library e-newsletter My husband and I had many arguments  long discussions about what we would name our children. He wanted French names, all of which evoked the Apostles, and I wanted Hebrew names, which seemed too “foreign” to him. We compromised, as parents must, by selecting names from neither tradition [...]

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Redefining Shabbat, again and again

I grew up in a home that was not shabbat observant. While we sometimes went to synagogue, we also went shopping, to the movies, and to Memorial Stadium. As a participant in NCSY, I had an idea of what it meant to be shomer shabbat, but I also had the notion that this kind of [...]

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Why rush into things?

  It’s 6:30, an hour after we usually start shabbat dinner during the school year, no matter what time the sun sets. But this is the first friday of vacation. My husband stopped for a drink on his way home to celebrate his last day of school, and the kids are playing a game which [...]

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Almost fool-proof chicken

Although I was a vegetarian for over 25 years, I sure do love chicken. We keep kosher in a town where there is no kosher butcher, and sometimes the only Empire available is a whole chicken, which is great for soup, but trickier to cook in the oven, at least for me – I often [...]

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The End of Days

  Overheard:   Zoe, my 4 year old: “What’s the last day?” Ella, almost 6: “Do you meant the last day of school?” Zoe: “No, the last day.” Ella: “Do you mean the last day of the week?” Zoe: “No, the last day.” Ella: “The last day of the month?” Zoe: “I MEAN, the last [...]

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The ultimate shabbat dinner

No, this is not a recipe post. This is about one of my favorite ways to spend Friday night – at a potluck. I’ve organized a few family potlucks for my shul, and every time I do, I wish we had them more often. Here are my top 10 5 reasons why, in no particular order. [...]

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What’s great about your shul?

I recently joined the education committee at my synagogue. The board and the professional staff have all voiced a commitment to, and a glaringly obvious need for, some major revitalization of the way we “do” education. However, I’m not sure that any of us have any idea how to make it happen, nor do we [...]

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