Sometimes, every once in a while, I get this heady sense of how far I’ve come in the last few years. Five years ago, I couldn’t have told you the difference between Reform, Conservative and Orthodox, forget the differences between Haredi, Centrist Orthodox, Modern Orthodox or even Open Orthodoxy. Okay, so I cheated and looked… Continue reading Oh the places we will go!
The Choosing America Project is looking for true short stories that express the very essence of being an immigrant in America. We are interested in is eliciting gripping human interest short stories that will reflect the diversity of the American immigrant experience, past and present. The final goal of The Choosing America Project is to… Continue reading The Choosing America Project
My profile of Ari Hart and his work in Washington Heights was published in The Jerusalem Post. Check out the finished piece, “A Guiding Light” for updates on Hart’s work with Uri L’Tzedek.
I am many things but I am not sleep deprived. Ever since leaving behind the rat race (teaching at a New York City public school in my case), I have been catching up on much needed sleep. Now I get oodles of it, hours of it and when I’m lucky, a handful of it is… Continue reading Sleep Deprived
I didn’t have much Internet access in Los Angeles towards the end of my little Passover vacation there so alas, I didn’t have time to schedule anything for my Sunday slot. Still, I was catching up on your comments on my phone, missing Twitter and Facebook desperately and suffering from the aftereffects of jetlag, sleep… Continue reading Silence
“The seder is supposed to be a safe place.” Now, who are you kidding? But check out this comment from wrpn and why it deserves its own post: Rabanit Hausman, Sometimes you just have to pick your fights. We had guests over the first days of the chag (holiday) whose son, who had just returned… Continue reading Seder Soundbites
Okay, so I think this year’s Pesach was better than the last. Maybe I’m blocking out the more unpleasant stuff. I mean, I only cried once so that’s a vast improvement. (No, wait, it was twice. Still….) Anyway, I hope yours was good and fairly uneventful (or eventful, depending on what you were hoping for).… Continue reading Goals for Next Pesach
Isn’t it confusing? Won’t it be confusing for your children? People constantly ask me these questions. They think being Dominican, American and Jewish sounds really complicated. Mostly, they’re trying to put a damper on my multicultural mojo. So here I am in Los Angeles for Pesach (Passover) stocking up on yucca and plantains so I… Continue reading Cultural Confusion
Because I was having a fibromyalgia flare-up, I didn’t actually help make anything kosher for Passover. Instead, I supervised. I watched things get steamed, boiled and wiped down. Okay, so I wasn’t actually paying attention and I probably missed a lot. I did get to catch my husband and his brother fighting. Apparently, when they… Continue reading Kashrut (Kosher) Supervisor
I remember the taste of freedom. After running away from home, after kidnapping and winning custody of my sister, I was free. I felt so free and happy, I started on a journey that began in church and led to my eventual conversion to Judaism. My first Pesach, I wanted to write my own Haggadah… Continue reading Let Freedom Ring
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 