Purim We are a few days from Erev Purim! I hope you have a costume planned and a place to go for the Purim Schpiel. Purim is one of those “different” holidays. There’s the kids’ level – a story of Queen Esther saving the Jews, and the adult level – where there’s a lot of…
Read More »Jewish Culture
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…
Read More »Studying with an Orthodox Rabbi
It’s no secret that one of my dearest friends is an Orthodox rabbi with whom I have studied for years. I’ve learned A LOT from him, including the fact that one should ignore all the prejudices that are directed at the Orthodox. Rabbi Judah Dardik (previously rabbi of Beth Jacob in Oakland) is one of…
Read More »Avoid Senseless Hatred
I feel very strongly that we need to teach compassion for our fellow Jews and to avoid sinat chinam (senseless hatred). Many Jews condemn other Jews, citing internalized anti-Semitism, in-group elitism and the unpleasant practice of figuring out whether a person is Jewish or Jewish-enough. I think it is important to stimulate compassion for the…
Read More »My Daughters are put off by N.Y. Jewish Culture
A worried Jewish father with a non-Jewish wife wrote to me about the take his college age daughters had towards New York Jewish “culture”. I answered him in my Mixed and Matched column. I’m Jewish, my wife is not. Our two daughters, who have been to Israel, were raised Jewish with all the Jewish lifecycle…
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