books and reading · culture/multiculturalism · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · race/racism · writing

Jews come in all shapes, colors and sizes

I just picked up In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People by Diane Tobin, Gary A. Tobin & Scott Rubin. Currently, I’m reading the chapter called “Feet in Many Rivers: Navigating Multiple Identities.” There were many other interesting chapters I could have started with but this one drew me in… Continue reading Jews come in all shapes, colors and sizes

chronic pain/fibromyalgia · friends · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism

Loss & The Three Weeks

Someone gave me the heads up about ButYouDontLookSick.com recently and I wanted to link a good post I found there “The Pain of Disease and the Triumph of Togetherness”: An excerpt: “There’s a pain that can be worse than any physical disease. It’s the loneliness you feel when you see your friends go out and… Continue reading Loss & The Three Weeks

chronic pain/fibromyalgia · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York · rabbi

Learning & the Rabbi’s wife

Aish rules! One of the best things about living in Los Angeles is that Aish is only a couple of blocks away. Because I’ve been taking classes at Santa Monica College though, I haven’t had a chance to take advantage of this little miracle. In New York, going to Aish means a long subway ride… Continue reading Learning & the Rabbi’s wife

culture/multiculturalism · Los Angeles · movies

Surviving Superbad

Melissa Mosley/Columbia Pictures From left, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera in Superbad. I try to watch everything. I have always been a pop culture junkie. Looking for my next escapist fix. In junior high school, I created a giant binder devoted to my addiction. My friends would pass it around, “ooohing” and “ahhhing” over the… Continue reading Surviving Superbad

books and reading · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism

Honoring My Parents

A coworker of mine was planning her wedding. She was telling us about it when she went a little off topic and started discussing her relationship with her mother. All I could think was, “WHOA, this sounds like an abusive relationship.” And I tried as kindly as possible to point that out as the conversation… Continue reading Honoring My Parents

books and reading · news

Raised by Wolves?

I get the NY Times the only way I can afford it…for free, online. I receive emails hounding me with news alerts, headlines, book and film reviews on a daily basis. I do an utterly horrid job of keeping up. Today I was surprised, given that I wrote a previous post about being “raised by… Continue reading Raised by Wolves?

chronic pain/fibromyalgia · Israel · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · medications · news

The not so friendly skies

Newsworthy Item from Consumerist.com: Delta Makes Woman With Muscular Dystrophy Crawl Off Plane Traveling is difficult when you’re disabled and according to the article above, Delta made it much, much worst for one handicapped passenger. Though my travel experiences have been nowhere near as arduous, my first and only flight to Israel was so upsetting… Continue reading The not so friendly skies

Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York · news

Davening @ Venice Beach

Monica Almeida/The New York Times The Pacific Jewish Center, an Orthodox synagogue, on the colorful Venice Beach boardwalk. One of my favorite places in California is the synagogue on Venice Beach. I’ve only been inside once but it strikes me as truly awesome that there’s an Orthodox synagogue in the middle of the chaos and… Continue reading Davening @ Venice Beach

clothing · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · Los Angeles · New York · news · writing

Registering a 5.4 in Magnitude

The bed started shaking while I was lying leisurely in bed reading yet another book on writing. My first thought was to wonder what the hell those people downstairs were doing that could make my bed shake. Then I realized there were no people downstairs. There was no “downstairs,” I was on a first floor!… Continue reading Registering a 5.4 in Magnitude

food · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · writing

Gefilte Fish Con Maduros

Los platanos maduros (the ripe, fried plantains). My latest article, Gefilte Fish Con Maduros: A Multicultural Jewish Family, is currently at Interfaithfamily.com. Like the subheader notes, it’s about my multicultural Jewish family. The ups, the downs and everything in-between. I wonder if my husband realizes that in this scenario, he’s the gefilte fish. Hmm. Best… Continue reading Gefilte Fish Con Maduros