by Susan L. Lipson (Poway, CA)
Anti-Semitism has been a blessing for the Jewish people. Yes, you read that right, and yes, I am a Jew. And no, I’m not being totally ironic. I am pointing out a paradoxical fact: anti-Semitism has been the key to Jewish survival by blessing us Jews with the will to [...]
Entries from August 2009
August 31, 2009
The Key to Jewish Survival
August 24, 2009
Writing Practice: Simple Acts
The simplest acts in our lives–from breathing to brushing our teeth to bending over to lace our shoes–are sometimes taken for granted.
Can you think of an act that you perform daily or weekly which you may overlook in your rush to catch the bus on your way to school or as you hurry to your [...]
August 17, 2009
Papa Chazanow
by Marianne Goldsmith (Oakland, CA)
“Eat, don’t talk.”
I received this advice from the only grandparent I ever knew – Frank (Papa) Chazanow. The occasion was lunch at Papa’s house, when I was 5 1/2, old enough to manage my own fork, and tall enough to sit (avec booster) in a grown-up chair. Seated next to my [...]
August 10, 2009
A New Melody
by Harriet R. Goren (New York, NY)
We belonged to a moribund synagogue in a stagnant neighborhood where the sermon was the same every Yom Kippur: “Please make your Kol Nidre donation so we can pay the mortgage.”
The shul president pronounced it “muggage,” and I waited every year in hopes that he would get enough money [...]
