Passover is my favorite holiday. When I was a child, my mom worked hard year after year to ensure that our seder was a joyous meal. She’d decorate our table with old family photos, scatter toy frogs and write parody lyrics to popular songs to make them Passover-themed. In college, my non-Jewish friends eagerly accepted…
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Opinion
Opinion
Why this year’s seder will be similar to the very first seder
In every generation one is obligated to see oneself as having personally made the exodus from Egypt. — Passover haggadah This is what we are asked to do…
Passover
Let my people know: this is the first time I’ve had to plan a seder
How long does a seder really have to be? “No, we can’t just say ‘They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat!’” I tell my daughters. There’s some…
First Person
Virtual Judaism is being forced upon us, but I'm making the best of it
Last Friday night, my wife and I celebrated a Shabbat dinner with our daughters and son-in-law … with proper social distancing. We live in Palo Alto. Our…
Religion
The Jewish antidote to losing your sense of time during the pandemic
Among the most enduring comforts of Jewish life are its endless patterns and repetitions — the seven-day rhythm of work and rest, the cycle of holidays,…
First Person
Mentoring is a gift, asking for help a blessing
When I got off the phone with the national president of Hadassah (the world’s largest Zionist women’s organization), who had called to invite me to serve…
Letters
It could be worse; Misuse of Torah; Untying infertility knots; etc.
It could always be worse We could be having wildfires, power outages, water shortages or earthquakes, kinehoreh (Yiddish for “it shouldn’t…
History
How Jews have fared during pandemics throughout history
Once the deadly virus started spreading all over the world, devastated communities struggled to confront a pandemic they did not fully understand. Soon…
Letter to Readers
J. is here to serve our community in this unsettling time
At first, it was just Wuhan. Now virtually everyone around the world has had their lives changed by the coronavirus pandemic. Here in the Bay Area, 7 to 8…