A year ago I didn’t think the pandemic would last this long. I made due with a Zoom Seder and enjoyed the novelty of it. But a year later I’m not so enthused. I have heard many people say they are sick of screens. Last April I read a fascinating article about “third quarter” of isolation when things…
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Rabbi Avi Schulman wrote this email to his congregation, Temple Beth Torah in Fremont. (I LOVE that he included Pi Day as a “noteworthy” event in March.) Then he goes on to describe a multifaith service coming up that commemorates our completing a year of Covid 19 lockdown. This date is significant and we all…
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(This opinion piece originally appeared in the J-weekly on May 20, 2016) I’m looking forward to the “Growing Up Interfaith” conference. It’s still a bit uncomfortable to reveal that I am a so-called patrilineal Jew, but maybe it’s time for more of us to come out. I’m turning 50 this year, and it took…
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Next holiday: Tu Bishvat How perfect that our next holiday honors our natural world. Tu Bishvat begins at sundown on Wednesday, January 27. We’ll be celebrating at home this year and there are many activities that can lift our spirits and teach us about our beloved green world. Being Proactive Tip 2* Tu Bishvat can…
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(This article first appeared in my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly on November 5, 2018) Dear Dawn: My pregnant daughter just learned her baby is a boy. She and I just had an animated discussion because she announced to me she doesn’t plan to circumcise him. Her non-Jewish husband is circumcised and on my…
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(This article was first published in my Mixed and Matched column for the J-weekly on August 29, 2014) Dear Dawn, My fiancé is Jewish and I was raised basically Christian but not going to church. I really like his family traditions and am attracted to Judaism. I am thinking of converting, but a Jewish co-worker…
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