“It’s like you think about race all the time.” “Because I have to. Because when I don’t, someone asks me what country I was born in even though I don’t have an accent…just because I’m not white. Because I get stopped and followed in stores. Because people make comments about my hair and pet me.… Continue reading Thinking about race

I am currently an online volunteer tutor with Reading Partners at Jackson Elementary and they are looking for more help! Reading Partners is a program that pairs you with a child to help them with their reading. You commit to at least one hour per week (or more if you’d like) and work with the… Continue reading Volunteer Online Reading Tutor with Reading Partners

Register here: https://www.meltonwestvalley.org/registration

If you’re like me, you ask yourself this question every year. I hate baking. I hate cooking. Still, I make a few things for Thanksgiving. I make mashed Miracle Whip red potatoes. I make ensalada rusa, a Dominican delicacy. I also make pumpkin pie. But this year, I found myself asking on Facebook if there… Continue reading Best non-dairy pumpkin pie alternatives

Blewish isn’t a term that I’d heard before stumbling upon this short film about an African-American Jewish boy struggling with his identity. My 6-year-old son and I watched it early this week. Check out the article here about the creator: https://forward.com/culture/477753/blewish-celebrates-black-and-jewish-intersectionality-through-childrens/?fbclid=IwAR2v8LWSg0kBm-M3S0v1VxKYoWZaaZbLSZdSZrvhQZXdUKFBMCSkoEmAn You can pay to watch the short film here: https://watch.eventive.org/cicff38/play/615312b9e55c4600b0885f15/614e03704802d50037c56e42

I have been a mixed-race person my whole life but I didn’t identify as a mixed-race until I was in college. Mixed-race seemed synonymous with being Dominican so it didn’t seem like I had to add it as an identifier. My siblings and my parents and I are all different skin colors. Some of us… Continue reading Things I’m Sick of Hearing as a Mixed-Race Girl

Would anyone be interested in teaching with Torahverse, the new company I’m working for? They teach middle school and high school kids online or in person. The following subjects: Ivrit Conversational Ivrit Beginner Alef-Bet, Bar Mitzvah and bat Mitzvah i Experiental halacha Torah Chidon-style rigorous Chumash Navi Gemara for beginners Mishna by memory Painting Krav… Continue reading Looking for (Jewish) Educators

This past Shabbat was the first time that we spent it with friends outdoors and indoors in masks. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed quality time with friends until that moment when we were sitting around just chatting in my mother-in-law’s backyard. I hadn’t seen any friends in-person in over a year. This… Continue reading The First Shabbat

I have been teaching online for almost two years now. It has been the first time I’ve been able to work in a decade and a half outside of the freelance writing and public speaking I did when I lived in New York. I missed teaching so much that even all these years later, a… Continue reading The Rewards of Teaching Online

Since when I last updated my blog, the world is very different and not just for me. We’re currently in the middle of a pandemic and I haven’t seen my any of my close friends in-person since early 2020. I haven’t written anything in way too long. I’m completely out of practice. Instead of writing,… Continue reading Are you there, G-d? It’s me Aliza