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?
If you’re not a regular subscriber to Latina magazine then you’re missing out! You probably haven’t seen my full page spread in the May 2009 issue for which Michelle Rodriguez graces the cover. You’ll find my piece, “Bagels and Locks” (get it?) on page 76. It is the first piece in Latina‘s Love Your Body… Continue reading Bagels and Locks…and Jewminicana pride!
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
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
Jewlicious Responds to Newsweek‘s “Is Your Rabbi Hot or Not?” with signature snarkiness. Jewlicious asked me via Twitter to take a look. I didn’t expect to get riled up but then I noticed the line, “What kind of name for a rabbi is ‘Rolando’?” Jewlicious was poking fun at Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon who was… Continue reading Spanish People Revolt!
My writing teacher sent me this quote from a recent New Yorker profile of novelist Ian McEwan: “You spend the morning and suddenly there are seven or eight words in a row. They’ve got that twist, a little trip that delights you. And you hope they will delight someone else. And you could not have… Continue reading My quote
My energy level is dropping quickly but I hate to finish the day without remarking on my talks at Brooklyn College today. A really cool professor there had me come in to speak to his students, another professor’s students and the broader Brooklyn College audience. Incredibly, I was representing the Judaic Studies, Latino Studies and… Continue reading Brooklyn College Take Two: Ruminations on my latest talk
I want to crawl in a hole and lie there for days. I am in so much pain. On the bright side, my blog was talked up in the Manhattan Times, Manhattan’s bilingual paper for Northern Manhattan. In a word (or two): muy cool. Check it out.
“The Do’s and Don’ts of Talking to Converts” is now up on MyJewishLearning.com. Hopefully enough people will read it that us converts won’t have to worry about all the little humiliations I mentioned int he piece.
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 