The language is understated, never flowery. Yet Quiet Americans, the debut book of short stories by Erika Dreifus, is one of the most powerful books I have read that uses the Holocaust and its survivors as the driving force. Continue reading
Challah and how it is made has always had a mystique to me. Raised in a non-observant Jewish household, I never saw anyone make the golden, braided bread. As an adult, I bought it often, figuring baking a loaf of challah was beyond my reach. This year, as a secular New Year’s resolution, I made a vow I had avoided for years: I would learn how to make challah.
The New Year is just a few months old, and I have made challah, not once, but twice. Making challah, I now … Continue reading
Sometimes, our children teach us as much as we try to teach them. In a fleeting moment, my almost 3-year-old shows that he has the capacity to learn about prayer. And he surprises me by how he is able to internalize what he hears. You are a blessing, I tell him. Mommy and Daddy are my blessing, he says in return. Continue reading
Singer Debbie Friedman, whose memorial service is today in southern California, helped me find something I often lacked during childhood and young adulthood. She helped me discover a love for my faith and the beauty and meaning of many prayers. Continue reading
The Jewish New Year is months away. But I live in America and celebrate both the secular and Jewish New Years. I’m not superstitious, but like the tradition of making resolutions as each new year approaches. Here are my resolutions for the new year – with a Jewish twist:
My understanding of Hebrew is limited. Rarely do I get the time to intensely learn the meaning of a single prayer. Recently, a renowned cantor gave me that chance. Actually, cantor and composer Linda Hirschhorn gave me no choice but to understand a prayer before I sang it in front of others.
Cantor Hirschhorn, whose specialty is a cappella, recently came to Temple Isaiah of Lexington as an artist-in-residence. She led about 30 of us in 14 hours of rehearsal spread over four days. We then performed with her in … Continue reading
>Our almost 3-year-old son met Santa Claus for the first time last week during Hanukkah. He loves live music so we took him to a local holiday pops concert as a Hanukkah present. Santa showed up to lead Jingle Bells and other holiday – well, Christmas – tunes. It looked and sounded like Christmas everywhere we went.
Egads. Have we committed a Hanukkah faux pas with our child? I don’t think so. It presents challenges, but it’s okay for a Jewish child to brush elbows with Santa Claus, a figure important in the lives of many of our friends. It’s not a holiday Jews celebrate, but Christmas is a big presence in America. Still, it is a challenge to figure out the best way to explain Christmas trappings to a child just starting to develop a Jewish identity. Continue reading
Ambivalent Jew. That was me through childhood. I knew very few Jews. For the latter half of my childhood, we were among just a handful of Jews in our small Ohio town. Sunday school was a drag. It was decidedly not hip to be anything but Christian where I lived. I had no desire to switch religions, but I was very unsure about my faith and what it meant to be Jewish. I hunted for answers by burying myself in books about Jews. Through reading, I often found what I lacked – a community of Jews. Continue reading
I never learned a prayer of gratitude until recently. I grew up largely disconnected from my own faith. Judaism, like most religions, of course has a prayer for saying thank you.
Modim anachnu lach, I learned only a few years ago, means we give thanks to you. My teacher was Cantor Robbie Solomon, who has put the prayer to music in various ways. His simpler, folk-style composition particularly moves me. Perhaps it’s partly because Robbie once asked me to accompany him on my flute on that composition. I learned to … Continue reading
Happy Hanumas? Happy Chrismakah? Merry Hanukah? The winter holidays are fast approaching. It’s time for non-celebrants of Christmas to ready ourselves for the onslaught of seasonal niceties from store clerks and acquaintances. No one, of course, will blend a greeting that pays tribute to Jewish and Christian holidays. Most will tell me, “Merry Christmas,” or “Happy Holidays.” No one will likely utter Happy Hanukkah.
Am I bitter about this? No, I’m a mature adult. I live in a country dominated by Christianity. Christmas is the one holiday that leads to a … Continue reading
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