I received this message from a reader of my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly. Your column is always suggesting convoluted ways that interfaith couples can deal with more traditional Jewish views. Why bother? Why don’t you just tell them to join a Reform synagogue and be done with the people who don’t agree…
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Ain’t We Got Fun!
One of the best things about belonging to a community is that there are other people to create fun activities FOR you and to support the ones you create. A friend of mine is entranced with the music of Tin Pan Alley. He has become quite the expert on the musicians, politics and social upheaval…
Read More »The Fifth New Year + A life of meaning
A synagogue group goes to the ballgame together Does your life have meaning? Tomorrow we will all begin writing 2013 on paperwork. Jewish or not, a new year begins for us all at midnight on December 31. Many of us make resolutions; we will – lose weight, start jogging, clean out the closet, tidy up…
Read More »Take some time to get Connected
After the rush of the holidays comes this long quiet period – no more Jewish holidays until Chanukah which begins Dec. 8 this year. That leaves a lot of time for those families who find the Christmas – Chanukah period to be a challenge to think it through. Feel free to give me a…
Read More »What does it mean to be ‘Spiritual’?
Many people identify as spiritual but not religious. In conversation the word, spiritual, has come to mean a sort of vague ‘good’ that isn’t focused on anything and has responsibility to no one. When I ask what that means to them, they typically say, something like, “I believe there is a force greater than us.”…
Read More »Call it what you will, you need a community
My daughter calls me “Mama” when she’s feeling especially affectionate or especially upset. So when I picked up the phone at 6am on a Sunday morning and heard, “Mama?” I knew things were not OK. Elly is in Israel on a Birthright* trip and her credit card had been frozen. Despite my calls to the…
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