Just what was I expecting “From Ghetto to Ghetto”? As a writer and fellow convert myself to Judaism, I have read many, many books about the journeys others have traveled to conversion. I have loved none so much as Julius Lester’s “Lovesong: Becoming a Jew.” I devoured, gobbled it down, page by page. And yet,… Continue reading How do you get from ghetto to ghetto?
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
Hallelujah, shalom: Rabbi Funnye singing at Shabbat services. (Alec Soth/Magnum, for The New York Times) Conservative rabbi (and convert) Rabbi Capers Funnye is putting the black back in Judaism. (Okay, so it was already there.) And the New York Times noticed. They profiled him in a piece called “Barack Obama’s Rabbi”. The piece also gives… Continue reading Barack Obama’s Rabbi
I feel like these thing sneak up on me and punch me in the gut. So there we were sitting all unassuming like, before Pesach (Passover), in the Fish Grill, my favorite place to eat in Los Angeles. My husband and I were wedged into a corner table when some guys plopped down in the… Continue reading Punched in the gut
With “Love in Black and White,” Matthew Hunter has written a passionate love letter to interracial relationships in The Michigan Daily. He cites a Time Magazine statistic that says interracial marriages have spiked by almost 1000% since the ban of anti-miscegenation laws. I believe him. Though recent statistics show the rate of Asians and Latinos… Continue reading Loving in Black, White and Jewish
My cousin O. wants to know how I’m making so much money talking about myself. But the answer to this question and similar mysteries can only be answered by G-d. And if G-d started talking directly to either of us, we’d probably be filthy rich (or locked up in Arkham Asylum). In the meantime, I… Continue reading My Second Shabbaton: Ruminations on speaking at Brandeis University
Twittering before, during, after the wedding:Going to a wedding today. Separate seating for men and women. Sheitels and fancy hats will abound. Will try not to wear a sack. 9:40 AM Mar 22nd from web My father-and sister-in-law are in town for the wedding and passed out on our couches. Because I am not social… Continue reading What I hate about being an Orthodox Jew OR How My Rastafarian Beret Came to Represent Rabbi Avi Weiss, HIR and YCT
Yes, I’m a hybrid and I’m proud of it! But do you agree with Andre Cordescu’s point that “setting apart one’s tribe or nation ends inevitably in war.” Obviously, Jews set themselves apart. We’re the “chosen” people and by that we mean that G-d gave us a whole bunch of rules we werent meant to… Continue reading Hybrids aren’t just cars
“Mami, pero tu si ta buena!” a tiguerito yells in the first chapter of my book that opens on a scene in Washington Heights. My Mom is pushing a stroller down the street while my sister B. and I walk on either sides and despite her brood, the hoodlum on the street can’t help telling… Continue reading Hispanic Woman Walking
Having a job where I have no face-to-face human contact means that I tend to over-share when I do. So it’s no surprise that when I went to the allergist today, I quickly started chatting it up with the secretaries. That’s how I roll. “I’m going to be on TV on a Latino show!” I… Continue reading You have to choose!
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 