I got the nickname, Holocaust Girl, back in college. Little did they—the poetry department mean girls—know, instead of feeling insulted and ridiculed, as they had hoped, I loved the designation. […]
This article originally ran in the St. Louis Jewish Light Though each of my children has gone through brief phases of packing her own lunch or buying at school, I […]
This year, the Passover journey from Egypt and slavery to freedom and human dignity feels particularly poignant. The Hebrew word for Egypt, mitzrayim, also connotes “the narrow place,” a place […]
On Pesach, she would host 30 guests. Her siblings, children, friends without family nearby. The dining room table was extended to its maximum length, extra card tables snaking into the […]
Passover was on March 30 the first year I ever celebrated it. I remember it was a stormy spring in Los Angeles. Rainwater roared through the city aqueducts. I had […]
For those of us making seders, the list-making has been going on for quite a while now. For those of us who change dishes and pots and every damn thing […]
The first quarter of 2022 that just ended brought with it many unfortunate international developments. As I was born in Ukraine and still have close family there, I was worried […]
Parenthood is a complicated, often chaotic, adventure for everyone. Raising up young people to be kind, empathetic, strong, inquisitive adults is a challenge that few can claim to be prepared […]
The story starts long ago. When I was growing up, my father was Jewish and my mother was Catholic. They attended services at a local synagogue before I was born […]
This piece originally ran on the blog of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota. Like many of us, I have been heartbroken to see […]