Category Archives: Observations

Lecha Challah! Or, Me and My Mitzvot

Posted on February 24, 2010 by

It Is Thursday Night. I am alone. I have to be alone because if my husband saw what I am doing, he’d think I’d gone off the deep end of Judaism. I am sitting in our living room in front … Continue reading →

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Hanukkah Is Making Me a Little Crazy

Posted on December 11, 2009 by

Anyone who does a little background on (C)hanuk(k)ah knows that it started out as a celebration of Jewish defiance in the face of a powerful majority bent on assimilation. It commemorates the end of a blood-soaked occupation and civil war, … Continue reading →

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This Is It.

Posted on October 22, 2009 by

These will be among my last words as a gentile. Step One of Three Yesterday I locked myself in one of our rabbi’s offices with another member of our congregation, a very gentle man, an OB/GYN and certified mohel, trained … Continue reading →

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OMG! I’m Becoming a Jew in, like, Less Than Three Weeks!

Posted on October 7, 2009 by

Between working two jobs and the intense spiritual work of the High Holidays, I haven’t had a lot of mental space in which to contemplate the Very Big Thing happening in less than three weeks. I’m feeling a greater gut-level … Continue reading →

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The Prayer Problem

Posted on August 25, 2009 by

Setting aside time every day for prayer is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s like learning how to sit up straight all the time. You try your best, but more often than not, you come up short. … Continue reading →

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Sim Shalom. Praying for Peace.

Posted on July 21, 2009 by

Judaism is pretty open to intercessory prayer — asking God, both in private and in public moments, to intervene in earthly events for healing, for peace, for justice. At the center of the daily liturgy, the Amidah (standing) prayers, are … Continue reading →

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Oseh Ma’aseh v’Reishit

Posted on July 9, 2009 by

Nothing focuses the mind on the vastness and mysteriousness of God quite like the sights of the natural world. Most of the time, I live the belief that all of this came — in one way or another — from … Continue reading →

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If My Friends Are ‘Culturally’ Jewish, What Does That Make Me?

Posted on June 25, 2009 by

Obviously, I understood that choosing a Jewish life meant joining a demographic minority, less than two percent of the U.S. population. What I didn’t understand as deeply is that by choosing a pretty observant Jewish life, I’d be joining a … Continue reading →

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Why Straight People Go to Gay Synagogues: Holy Chutzpah

Posted on June 15, 2009 by

I came across an article in HaAretz that spoke to me on so many levels. The title reached out and grabbed me first, Why Straight People Go to Gay Synagogues, and it went into the communal life of majority GBLT … Continue reading →

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Here’s Your Kippah. Welcome to the Minefield!

Posted on June 11, 2009 by

Part of creating a Jewish identity in the 21st-century Diaspora is entering into a relationship — however thin, however distant, however indirect — with Eretz Yisrael, what we now call the state of Israel, and its ancient, layered complexities. I … Continue reading →

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