Last Father’s Day I had a dad. This Father’s Day, I have memories. And I’ve been sorting through them ever since he died in January. My husband warned me that in morning minyan they might ask me to share some thoughts about my dad. Fortunately, this only happens on the yahrtzeit, which is seven months […]
In the first weeks of saying kaddish for my father, the sun still hung below the horizon when I’d wake to go to minyan. I’m just now out of sheloshim, the first thirty days of mourning proscribed by Jewish law, and now, instead, the morning sky is the cold milky white of late winter. Watching […]
Rubin Josephs, philanthropist and developer, dies at 82 by Marla Cohen Rubin “Ruby” Josephs, philanthropist, developer and Holocaust survivor, known in equal measure for his generosity, his determination in business and the inability to accept the word “no” for an answer, died on Feb. 27 at his home in Piermont where he had lived since […]
A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother that he’s been cast in the school play. “That’s wonderful. What part do you have?” she asks. The boy says, “I’m playing the part of the Jewish husband!” The mother scowls and says, “Go back and tell the teacher you want a speaking part.” And […]
“And what do you think was going on in the world that needed superheroes?” The docent’s question lingered in the exhibition room. Her charges, a group of high school kids visiting the Jewish Museum in Manhattan did what kids do when put on the spot. They looked at the ceiling, at their shoes, but not […]
This past month, Karnit Goldwasser spent her first wedding anniversary without her bashert. Her beloved wasn’t there to celebrate with his bride. No champagne, no flowers, no romantic dinner. His whereabouts are unknown; his health and safety, a mystery. Thirty-four days of war couldn’t return Udi, as her husband, Ehud, is known, to Karnit. In […]
When I got the email reminding me that there would be a second rally in New York on Sept. 17 to protest the genocide in Darfur, Katyusha rockets were raining down on northern Israel. I have to admit, I thought, who can think of Darfur now? And yet only a few months ago, it had […]
When I was a kid, I was completely fascinated with Christmas trees. I am sure this was because they were off-limits in our house —as in, “There’s no such thing as a Chanukah bush. Period.”My friends’ trees were so beautiful, however, that they were hard to resist. The lights, the glass ornaments, the miniature animals […]
