Thank you, NY Times for issuing Corrections on the article I was featured in on Saturday! An article on Saturday about converts to Judaism and their struggles over Christmas misstated an account of interactions between Aliza Hausman and her relatives. Ms. Hausman, who converted several years ago, said her Dominican grandmother used to ask her… Continue reading Corrections on NY Times article
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times Wow, I’m in the NY Times in an after-Christmas piece called: “Why Is This Christmas Different From All Others?”! The piece focuses on converts to Judaism and “the Christmas dilemma” and how they deal (or don’t) with their non-Jewish relatives at that particular time of year. I was… Continue reading Comments on the NY Times article: "Why Is This Christmas Different From All Others?"
What DOES a Jew do on Christmas Eve? There have been years after my conversion when I have been so ensconced in the Jewish world that I didn’t even remember that December 24 and December 25 had any significance to anyone, much less to myself at one time and my family. But this year, my… Continue reading What’s a Jew do on Christmas Eve?
The first year I was in the conversion process, I was really upset that this time of year most people, most cashiers and store clerks, said “Merry Christmas” to everyone instead of the more inclusive “Happy Holidays!” Probably, I responded to every “Merry Christmas” with a face that could only be called my Bah-humbug face.… Continue reading What do you say when…?
One of my favorite Jewish bloggers, MaNishtana (Black Jew is the New Black!) takes no prisoners as he explains why he’s not a fan of Chrismukkah! Isn’t celebrating Chrismukkah like celebrating Batman-Joker Day? he asks. After watching “The Dark Knight” (on Blu-ray on an HDTV! ooh! ahh!), I can see how that could be a… Continue reading Chrismukkah aka Batman-Joker Day
http://www.hulu.com/embed/PGn5kYL4FWyX3NSHWa1VVw Oh my! Saturday Night Live always manages to be funny (okay, only sometimes), weird and disturbing all rolled into one. And they’ve done it again with “Christmas Time for the Jews song.”
Christmas time is hard when you’re a Jew, especially when you’re the only Jew lost in a sea of Christmas carols, Christmas trees and Christmas movies. So how did comedian and writer Ophira Eisenberg deal with Christmas in Calgary? Stay tuned for the funny punchline where Santa “comes out.” Hat tip: MyJewishLearning.com
Officer John Fosket of the Helena Police Department and Miky, a bomb-sniffing dog trained by the Israeli Defense Forces. The NY Times published a sweet Jewish story this past weekend, “Yes, Miky, There Are Rabbis in Montana”. Aside from how hilarious it was to read that a Chabad rabbi from Brooklyn is teaching a non-Jewish… Continue reading Why Hanukkah in Montana Rocks
Rabbi who? what? where? and why? A soundbite from “Mixed-married couples and interfaith couples are a fact of Diaspora Jewish life”: “That a Jew chooses to marry someone who is not Jewish, even if a conversion takes place, is a clear indication that the Jew already has one foot out the Jewish door.” Yeah, that’s… Continue reading Don’t marry non-Jews or converts!
Here is an interview that should have been part of a larger piece tracking three interfaith couples and their religious choices. Batya keeps kosher but her husband isn’t Jewish. She paints a different picture of the statistics of intermarriage. We’ve heard them all by now: “Intermarriage threatens Jewish survival. Over 70% of the children of… Continue reading Interfaith Couple Chooses Judaism
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 