Sometimes it takes a bad experience to turn us around. Although I had basically no Jewish affiliation and was far along the secular continuum, our four year old son attended a Jewish pre-school. Now that we had children I thought I should try to offer them some kind of Jewish community/identity. I certainly didn’t feel qualified Read More
Month: October 2020
DAVID’S STAR
I wear a Jewish star necklace now. I always thought I would never wear one. I didn’t think it was useful or appropriate to advertise my religion as one of the first things you see or know about me. Then my son went to Israel and returned home with a beautiful and modest Jewish star Read More
THERE WAS NO MISTAKE: Yom Kippur take 2
Same day, same Yom Kippur Service, 2019. I was innocently sitting there gently striking my chest, whispering the sins listed in the Yom Kippur Siddur, when another wild wonderful realization came. Having experienced a share of trauma growing up, I had wished many times I could return to the happy, unself-conscious, young girl who was Read More
TRAUMA: Yom Kippur & freedom
On Yom Kippur 2019 I was in Shul hungry, standing, sitting, standing, sitting, and as usual not really understanding what was going on. I began to feel guilty about something I imagined I hadn’t done well. A close friend was going through a tough time and though I had tried to support her, somehow I Read More
DISILLUSIONED: and cracking open
Sam was extremely good looking. A very good dancer with a twinkle in his eye, dancing was big when he was growing up and he was a star on the dance floor. While his good looks and light-footed charm earned him some ease in life, Sam also faced hard lessons. Rifka, his mom, had experienced Read More