Rebecca Klempner is a wife, mother, and writer in Los Angeles.
When I lost my wallet, there was only one person who could help me find it
I got tired of playing board games with my kids on Shabbat—because I kept losing. But maybe winning isn’t everything.
How I learned that righteousness and morality are a question of behavior, not belief
This Thanksgiving will be the first since I found out that one branch of my family tree stretches back to colonial times
How an economics professor and an 18th-century rabbi helped me make better choices
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a Star Wars fanatic. But now—as an adult, an Orthodox Jew, and a parent concerned about Hollywood’s morals—I’m resisting the urge to see the new movie.
I grew up in a family that always voted for Democrats. Then I joined an Orthodox community filled with Republicans. Where do I stand? Somewhere in between.
Don’t call if you need me
If you want to make matzo balls, you’ve got to break some eggs. Right? Wrong.
It took years for me to recognize my OCD, and even longer to keep it from interfering with my religious observance
I regretted my unkind words as soon as I wrote them. And then the pain I’d caused another person came back to haunt me.
I used to think that being a feminist meant doing whatever men did. Now I’ve found my own place as a woman in the Orthodox world.
We publish a comic holiday newsletter for our friends. Recently it started to feel like work, until I learned the meaning of ‘mitzvah.’
I prided myself on living modestly—even seeing it as a Jewish virtue. Then I confronted my envy of those who were better off.
As a Jewish kid surrounded by Christmas cheer, an Afterschool Special inadvertently showed me that I didn’t have to try to fit in
Right after Tisha B’Av in 1979, my family left Israel—and splintered into pieces. Despite my hopes, I never made it back.
The cards my Christian paternal grandparents sent me as a child came with small checks—and a hidden agenda
Nobody expected my grandfather to show up at my apartment for Passover—two months after he died
