This one time someone told me a story about how her Shabbat guests sneaked off to smoke a joint. Of course, my mouth dropped. After all, there was a time when I thought Jews, maybe not just Orthodox Jews, were a holy people without blemish or imperfection. Okay, so I was just, perhaps, a tad… Continue reading Smoking Pot on Shabbat?!
Haiti: If I wasn’t entirely too exhausted to blog, I would write something deep and heartfelt about the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti. (Please check out my fan page and Twitter feed for links about the earthquake and how you can help the people of Haiti.) The capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, is far enough from… Continue reading Earthquakes and Jewish Art
Someone suggested that when I go to any Jewish function, I should just give everyone a two-minute bio about myself so that people will stop staring and acting totally bizarre if they think I don’t “look Jewish.” But often when I tell Jews that my family is from the Dominican Republic (and I was born… Continue reading But why don’t you just tell people you’re Dominican?
Great so though I’m covered head to toe in all but a burqa, the security dudes at the airport (will soon) get to see me naked anyway? Yeah, yeah, terrorism, I hear you, but I’m feeling quite the little prude right now. I’m not sure what’s worse, that those dudes (and dudettes) get to check… Continue reading Naked at the Airport
The Black Jew Dialogues Kicks Off 2010 Nationwide Tour in New York City The Black Jew Dialogues, the social-justice comedy that has been taking college campuses across America by storm, will kick off its 2010 nationwide tour in New York City with performances at LREI High School in Manhattan on January 12 and Temple Israel… Continue reading Cool Jewish Events: The Black Jew Diaglogues
¿Existió o no Jesús, el Mesías? Did Jesus, the Messiah, exist or not? Tras hacerse esa pregunta, cientos de cristianos colombianos se han convertido al judaísmo. Noticias Caracol devela el misterio de estos conversos que llevan la kipá y el talit. Algunos, incluso, sugieren que son descendientes de los llamados ‘marranos’, a los que la… Continue reading Did Jesus, the Messiah, exist or not? WHAT!
Event: Three-Part Series on Honor: “Honoring Parents: Kibud Av”Date: Monday January 11, 2010Time: 7:45pm (but be sure to show up at 7:00 PM for dinner and drinks)Place: Manhattan Jewish Experience, 131 West 86th Street – 10th floor, New York CityCost: The cost of the class is a suggested donation of $10 at the door.RSVP by… Continue reading Cool Jewish Events: Three-Part Series on Honor
Dear Aliza: Is it proper to say “I am a Ashkenazi Jew” or “I am a Sephardic Jew”, the truth is you are a Jew, just a Jew? Ashkenazim and Sephardim are practices of culture, so no one is Ashkenazi or Sephardic. They just have the customs of those particular cultures. If an “Ashkenazi” Jew… Continue reading Dear Aliza: Ashkenazi Jew or Sephardic Jew or Just Jewish?
I’ve got a heck of a conversion news roundup coming up next week if I can get it together. Some of the news is bleak, some of the news isn’t so bad. Generally, I’ve noticed that news isn’t always so uplifting and I’ve worried that reading so much sad news about conversion would really affect… Continue reading Good news is good news
If you’re keeping abreast of my fan page then you know that my sister and my husband have threatened to hide my computer and/or my appointment book because I am “over doing it.” And this is since I decided to take a step back from the many projects I was working on. Okay, so I… Continue reading The best laid plans of mice and men…
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 