Here we go – 2017! Our world has been shaken. I, for one, was stunned by the election results. The majority of my family and friends are in categories that feel increasingly unsafe. As a woman I have been subject to sexual harassment and as a Jew I have been told I wasn’t welcome (yes,…
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I Want All Streams of Judaism to see my Kids as Jewish

The email from this Jewish Dad is a pretty common view for men from Reform congregations. For that matter, it’s a pretty common view period. But what do you do when your opinion differs from that of others? I replied to him in my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly. My wife is…
Read More »A Rabbi Reflects on the Gregorian New Year
Rabbi Milder of Beth Emek in Pleasanton sent this email to his congregation. He summarizes the four Jewish new years and considers the meaning of the Gregorian New Year that is observed on Dec. 31. Which New Year Is It? The Mishnah records that there are not one, but actually four new years. The rabbis…
Read More »Something Special, Sweet and Flexible for the Holidays

I have a friend who is a food writer and chef. She blogs about food and she writes a food column for the J-weekly (the San Francisco bay area Jewish newspaper). She called me a couple months ago as she was writing her December column to ask, “Is having Christmas and Hanukkah overlap fantastic for…
Read More »When Hanukkah & Christmas Overlap

Rabbi Milder of Beth Emek in Pleasanton shared the following thoughts with his congregation on the overlap of Christmas and Hanukkah this year. He doesn’t just explain how it is that the two holidays can overlap one year but not the next, he explains the different calendars. It’s some pretty useful information. As Americans we…
Read More »I Want to Identify as Half and Half

I received this question sent to my Mixed and Matched column. (Image from Wikicommons) This isn’t a common question, but it is not unheard of either. Sometimes the adult child of an interfaith couple wants to feel they are part of both their parents and they want others to reflect their choice. My father is…
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