Air Hugs for Everyone!
Remember this piece? Read more about my battle with fibromyalgia and how it was affected my life as a teacher, friend, sister, wife and Jew: “Air Hugs: Fibromyalgia and the Power of Touch”
Category: Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism
Ay Carajo! Haitians and Dominicans Take to the Streets
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)Demonstrators damage a Dominican Republic’s flag during a protest in Port-au-Prince, Friday, May 8, 2009. People hurled stones and tore down a sign at the Dominican Republic’s consulate in Haiti to protest the decapitation slaying of a Haitian in Santo Domingo. In America, Mexicans are the bottom of the food chain. Whether native… Continue reading Ay Carajo! Haitians and Dominicans Take to the Streets
Getting Trekked Out
Hello, my name is Aliza and I am a Trekkie. No, I have never been to a “Star Trek” convention (though I’ve wanted to go). No, I haven’t watched every single episode of every incarnation in the series. But I can tell a Tribble from a tricorder, though Newsweek was correct to claim that the… Continue reading Getting Trekked Out
One woman, eight hilarious characters
Wow. What a speech. Quite a character this Sarah Jones. No idea what TED is (and too exhausted to look after all this rainy weather wearing down my aching bones) but her impressions of everyone from an opinionated elderly Jewish woman to a fast-talking Dominican college student (both dead on!) were incredible.
Seriously, people?
Few people seem to take me seriously. I guess it doesn’t help that a lot of the time, I don’t take myself seriously. I rarely answer the question, “So what do you do?” In fact, I avoid it at all costs. Because people give you rather smug smiles when you say you’re writing a book.… Continue reading Seriously, people?
Good Mother, Bad Mother, Not Yet a Mother
While all of my closest friends are repopulating the Earth, I am hesitant. There are so many reasons to be. My husband’s still in school. We can’t support ourselves much less a child (how did my mother do it on welfare?). Also, ug, getting pregnant means forgoing possibly every medication that helps keep my fibromyalgia… Continue reading Good Mother, Bad Mother, Not Yet a Mother
Who is a Jew?
In the rush to write a great book about my crazy life and my ultimate conversion to Orthodox Judaism, I have read many, many books by other converts. I’ve read stories of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform converts. I’ve even met and befriended these converts from all different streams of Judaism. This has given me a… Continue reading Who is a Jew?
Bless you!
Fellow Latina Jewish artist Maya Escobar, who has been featured on this blog before, recognized her own when she decided to feature Vanessa Hidary, the Hebrew Mamita, on her own blog. The YouTube video below is the Jewess’s riff on “Ga Bless You Ma.” For those of you innocents, this is a common enough phrase slung… Continue reading Bless you!
The Thrills and Chills of Pondering Day School Education
Another regular day in the Yeshiva of Hogwarts…. I live in my own little bubble. For the most part, my close friends are in their 20s. They are either starting their families or have infants and I’m hoping that they didn’t read “Applying for Day School Aid: A Degrading Experience” in Jewish Week. (I’m still… Continue reading The Thrills and Chills of Pondering Day School Education
Going, Going…er, Ghetto…Gone?
I’m not very good at guarding my tongue which is probably why that part of the Shemoneh Esrei, the prayer Jews say three times a day, that focuses on this common human defect is my favorite. But I’m working on it. I’m particularly watching the vocabulary I use and how that might be offensive to… Continue reading Going, Going…er, Ghetto…Gone?
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 