When we were kids, I wanted to follow in my brother’s footsteps. Now, as adults, I’m reminded why.
Passover is about freedom, so let’s not encourage our kids to be slaves to their allergies
My children are becoming German citizens, and I’m going nuts
Little people, big questions
| 7:00 AM Mar 1, 2010
We asked Lila, 7, Josie, 8, and Noemi, almost 5, a few questions: how do you picture God? Why does God allow evil in the world? Is God all-powerful?
You know, the little questions.
These imponderables may stump rabbis and philosophers, but children have their own ideas.
After the testosterone-fueled commercial wasteland of the Super Bowl, Olympics spots show some love to women.
| 7:00 AM Feb 22, 2010
Parenting news has been pretty depressing lately. You may recall my little tznius-based prostitot freakout last week. But there was also the ongoing saga of the Baptist missionary kidnappers in Haiti; the reappearance of melamine-tainted milk in China; and the recalls of baby-squashing cribs, lead-tainted stuffed animals, and unpredictable Toyotas.
And going back a bit further, ...
Being polite to telemarketers can land you in the grave
| 7:00 AM Feb 19, 2010
I really admire considerate telemarketers who listen and try to sense your mood without immediately forcing a dialogue on you when they call. That’s why, when Devora from YES, the satellite TV company calls and asks if it’s a good time for me to talk, the first thing I do is thank her for her ...
Long before Jerry Springer, divorcing couples fought it out before Warsaw’s rabbinical court
| 7:00 AM Feb 18, 2010
One of the convenient aspects of studying Jewish history is its 3,000-year-old paper trail—the texts and records of the rabbinical and intellectual elite allow us to examine contours of Jewish law and history. But we tend to know less about the lives of average Jews, who didn’t receive much attention in the writings of the ...
As preteen pop stars play sexy, it’s time to rethink modesty
| 7:00 AM Feb 15, 2010
February has been a big month for prosti-tots, tiny demi-celebrities who dress like the ladies who used to ply their trade on the West Side Highway. Three-year-old Suri Cruise was seen out and about in electric red lipstick and custom-made red patent-leather Roger Vivier ankle-strap shoes. Rio’s Carnival parade on Sunday featured a 7-year-old samba ...
In the months before ‘I do,’ romance falls prey to planning
| 7:00 AM Feb 12, 2010
I don’t have plans for Valentine’s Day this year, and to be honest, I’m not likely to make any. No gifts, no reservations, no surprises. It’s not that I love my fiancé less. My adoration of her wit, beauty, and charm grow stronger each day. But we’re getting married this May, and when it comes ...
Does telling children they’re hated make them mishear lyrics and, eventually, horde Viagra?
| 7:00 AM Feb 4, 2010
CREDIT: Justin Gabbard
A close friend of mine passed away last week. Her name was Lisa, and she had been battling cancer for some time. Her death was not unexpected, least of all by me; I expect death, even when it isn’t expected.
My son didn’t take it as well. He’s 5 years old, and he began ...
A haftorah of remorse and return
Though only a tiny fraction of what it was in the 18th century, Barbados’s Jewish community—and its 1750 synagogue—still stand proud
In early 20th-century Poland, poet Shmuel Nadler took off his yarmulke and took up with the Communists
After a painstaking survey, Tablet Magazine awards title for nation's tastiest triangular treat
Making Palestinian chicken and Moroccan challah for a Shabbat dinner with Alice Waters
The national infatuation with pork has reached Jewish cuisine, prohibitions notwithstanding
When we were kids, I wanted to follow in my brother’s footsteps. Now, as adults, I’m reminded why.
Passover is about freedom, so let’s not encourage our kids to be slaves to their allergies
My children are becoming German citizens, and I’m going nuts
Playing the defiant Vashti in a day school Purim play awakened my inner feminist
On Valentine’s Day, reflecting on the limits and boundlessness of a father’s love
Plus-size retail queen Deb Malkin insists that fashion isn’t only for the skinny
Amid financial shortfalls and a Conservative crisis, the Jewish Theological Seminary will shutter its cantorial school
As Chabad opens preschools across the country, secular parents try to reconcile the movement with the classroom
The recession has hit the rabbinate, too. How are the newly ordained—and laid-off veterans—handling the rabbi glut?
How to reconcile religious prohibitions on autopsies with the need to determine a cause of death
From the archives: The neverending fetishistic fascination with Jews and intelligence
Immunization fears lead to another outbreak among New York’s ultra-Orthodox
For an Orthodox preteen, Tonya Harding was a hero—and a Purim inspiration
A crossword puzzle celebrating Judaism’s denominations
The Coney Island attraction who made wrestling history
