chronic pain/fibromyalgia · culture/multiculturalism · education · Hispanics/Latinos · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · music · New York · news · pesach · rabbi · Rabbi Avi Weiss · race/racism · teaching

I ♥ Ari Hart

I just finished writing rewriting this article for a Jewish writing class and I can’t bear that I don’t know when, if ever, it will see the light of day. So, I’m hoping some of you speed readers will give it a second chance and let me know what you think. Redefining Community: Ari Hart… Continue reading I ♥ Ari Hart

books and reading · culture/multiculturalism · Hispanics/Latinos · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York

Getting My Dominican On

I used my book allowance this week to buy myself some books that would help me get my Dominican on. I know what you’re thinking: Your what? And since when do you have a book allowance?Your answers go something like this: I’ve had a book allowance for a year now. Ever since my husband came… Continue reading Getting My Dominican On

clothing · culture/multiculturalism · hair · Hispanics/Latinos · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York · Shabbos/Shabbat · speaking

Recap on LimmudNY Session on Racism in the Jewish Community

Everyone knows what overt racism looks like. If they haven’t experienced it then it’s easy for them to imagine. We’ve all seen the awful photographs from the civil rights movement. But most people walk through life on a daily basis overlooking the more subtle forms of racism so that’s what my husband and I focused… Continue reading Recap on LimmudNY Session on Racism in the Jewish Community

art · happiness · Italy · New York · writing

Italy Trip Recap: Down and dirty in the city

Writing in Rome. When I came back from the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles where my husband was standing in as a rabbinic intern, the first thing I noticed about New York was that it was really dirty. Had the city always been so filthy or was I just desensitized to it? I suspected that… Continue reading Italy Trip Recap: Down and dirty in the city

chronic pain/fibromyalgia · gym · New York · news

A Healthy Shape

Richard Brodsky, 56, ran a marathon a year after finding out he had brain cancer. He still runs with his wife, Jodi, right. (Christian Hansen/New York Times) There’s a new face to chronic illness and I’ve talked about it before on my blog. It was fibromyalgia, after all, that forced me to start exercising and… Continue reading A Healthy Shape

babies and pregnancy · chronic pain/fibromyalgia · clothing · hair · Hispanics/Latinos · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · marriage · New York · prayer · rabbi · race/racism · wedding

Kinky Love: Breaking with Family Tradition and Embracing Curly Hair

Here’s an oldie but goodie, an old hair piece revised for mass consumption. I’m hoping it will be picked up by a women’s magazines. Don’t mind your prayers over it! Thanks! Kinky Love My mother taught me to hate my hair. She learned this from her mother, who learned it from her mother before her.… Continue reading Kinky Love: Breaking with Family Tradition and Embracing Curly Hair

culture/multiculturalism · Hispanics/Latinos · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York · news · pesach · rabbi · Rabbi Avi Weiss · writing

A Very Rough Draft of an Interview with Ari Hart of Uri L’Tzedek

Teens with a group of professors and students from Yeshiva University and students from Alianza Dominicana to the “Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic” exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC’s Battery Park City. They boarded a bus from Washington Heights for the field trip. Redefining Community:Ari Hart Builds a… Continue reading A Very Rough Draft of an Interview with Ari Hart of Uri L’Tzedek

books and reading · culture/multiculturalism · happiness · Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York · strengths · writing

Scheduling Myself Happy

I had been kicking myself about the fact I have no schedule when I finally realized, I do have one, it’s just that I don’t like it. I can’t seem to tear myself away from the computer and work and intermittent instant messaging, emailing and Twittering when I need to be at the gym or… Continue reading Scheduling Myself Happy

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

Dominican and Jewish Boom in New York City

For some reason, I’m always shocked to learn that a fellow Dominican didn’t grow up in Washington Heights. But according to the 2000 Census detailed in “Census Shows Growing Diversity in New York City”, that should come as no surprise since Dominicans and Mexicans make up 51% of the population in the Bronx. It might… Continue reading Dominican and Jewish Boom in New York City

Jews/Jewish/Judaism/Orthodox Judaism · New York · religion · services

The Religiously Observant are Healthier

Ever since fibromyalgia, going to shul on Shabbos has become a painful process for me, an almost certain guarantee of a fibro attack. Unfortunately, my shul is not handicap accessible when you consider my disability. I’m not even sure how it could be. But a new study highlighted in the NY Times article, “Patterns: Better… Continue reading The Religiously Observant are Healthier