Jewish Stuff

May 4, 2011

How The Struggle To Survive Spring Break Was A Lot Like The Jews' Exodus From Egypt

This year, Spring Break fell on the same week as Passover – the Jewish holiday which commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. (Think Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments.) This year there seemed to be so many similarities between Monkey’s heinous April “staycation” in Western, New York and the oft-repeated, seemingly never-ending Passover story that I simply could not ignore it….

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May 3, 2011

I Could Not Celebrate: So Kill Me

Sunday was YomHashoah, a day commemorating the six million Jews (and others) who were murdered in the Holocaust. I know Osama bin Laden wasn’t a leader who shared a western worldview, but he had his followers. Mostly, I’m uncomfortable with all this celebration over another person’s murder. Aren’t we taught not to be joyful when blood is shed?…

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December 16, 2010

Lessons From Nan, Who Passed On June 16, 2004

I will always remember Nan, wearing a snazzy pair of purple pants, sitting on the gold couch in my parents’ living room. Just sitting quietly, patiently, watching my brother and me as we made up games or put on little shows. Many years later, she would sit in the same place, doze off an on, awaking with an almost apologetic smile. Agatha Christie once said, “I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable . . . but through it all, I know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” I believe Nan knew this, too….

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November 10, 2010

Oy Vey: Tips to Non-Jews About Bar & Bat Mitzvah Giving

I received an email from an old friend not too long ago. She sounded kinda panicky:

Renna:

I have been invited to go to a Bat Mitzvah in NYC for a co-worker’s daughter. What do I give? Help!

Jenna 🙂

That Jenna. She brought me right back to October 25, 1979 when I celebrated my own bat mitzvah in Syracuse, New York. …

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May 27, 2010

A Day Of Community Spirit

When I asked one of the kids how he felt about the year coming to an end he said, “It’s been a great year. Once we understood and accepted everyone’s different personalities, we could just focus on working together to make something cool.”…

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