Online Conferences, Passover Baby Names and Unequal Accommodations

April 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Butterfly and Syrian thistle

I hope you have all had a wonderful Pesach. Aside from a tiyul or two, I've been busy preparing talks for two online conferences. I want to thank the many friends and readers contributed pictures that I used in the presentations. If you've never attended an online conference, you may wonder how it works. After you register and pay, you get to hear a range of international top-notch speakers without having to leave your house. You can stop and start the lectures whenever you want, invite your friends to join you, and re-play the talks you enjoyed most. iMothering runs between May 12 and June 16, 2013, during which registrants have access to all lectures. In fact, I've already recorded … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Baby Names Tagged With: , ,

On Passover and Daughters-in-Law

March 24, 2013 by 2 Comments

A year or two ago, the haredi magazine Yated published an article in its family section about the plight of the haredi woman in her forties. With a large number of children of different ages, she has to worry about shidduchim (match-making), teenage ups and downs, and elementary school issues. She may even have younger children who wake up at night. She is likely working full time, and might have responsibility for her elderly parents. Yet according to the author, all of this is nothing—not when compared to the biggest challenge of all: Getting along with her new sons- and daughters-in-law. The Mishnah touches on the difficult position of a new daughter-in-law in a discussion of the … [Read more...]

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Israeli Baby Boy’s Name Help

March 14, 2013 by 16 Comments

Free offer: I published an eBook, Cook Smart! Learn the Secrets of Your Kitchen Appliances. Today and tomorrow, it will be available for free download. If you don't have a Kindle you can get a free reader for your smartphone or PC. Reader Samantha asks for baby name help: Hi! I'd really appreciate your input! I'm desperately searching for a name for my baby boy, who is due at the end of this month. We would like to honor my husband's grandfather by naming after him. His name was Reuven, so we are looking for another good "R" name. We're not huge fans of Raphael, Raffi, or Reuven. We'd like something Jewish that would fit for a kid growing up in New York City. Ronen is our forerunner, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Israeli Living

Separate and Unequal at the Western Wall

March 10, 2013 by 72 Comments

The status of women at the Kotel (Western Wall) is in the news. You may have heard of The Women of the Wall, a group that meets monthly to pray together at the Kotel. Some members have been arrested for wearing prayer shawls. The controversy centers around whether these women are simply observing Judaism in the way they see fit, or making a concerted attempt to change the status quo. Today's guest post by photographer Rahel Jaskow addresses a different question. Documenting her claims with photos, she argues that  the status quo has already been changed. A concerted effort to enforce more segregation, and failure to improve the women's areas, has led to a general worsening of conditions … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tzniut/Modesty, Western Wall Tagged With: , , , ,

Fighting City Hall: Get Services for Your Special-Needs Child

January 31, 2013 by 31 Comments

A  friend is trying to help an immigrant family access services for a special-needs child. She asked me for ideas, so I called my neighbor who used to work within the special education system. My neighbor's tips were so helpful that I asked for permission to publish them.  She agreed and even suggested the title, "Fighting City Hall." When you hear the stories about parents who threw chairs and threatened doctors with violence, it's because the tactics work. I don't recommend these tactics, nor does my neighbor. But it gives you an idea of the frustration that parents experience. Don't expect it to be easy. And from what I hear this is not a problem unique to Israel. Don't give … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting, Special Needs Tagged With: , ,

Anti-Extremism Project Needs Your Help

January 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A woman named Ruth Eglash contacted me for help with a project. Ruth writes: I am looking for Israel/Jewish mothers with sons aged 12-25 willing to fill out a quick online/email survey for international organization Women Without Borders. Here is a short explanation of the project: The Mothers for Change study focuses on the role of women in family life and in society. Women are strategically positioned at the center of the family, where they are the first to recognize resignation and anger in their children. They build an ideal early-warning system when their sons, daughters, or husbands travel down the wrong path. Just as terrorist organizations are able to exploit latent activist … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting

The Orlah Man

January 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Tu Beshevat children's craft figure made of fruit

My daughter made this figure in honor of Tu BiShvat, the holiday known in the Mishnah as the New Year of the Trees. The teacher said it wasn't for eating, but because my daughter stayed home from school with a fever we will enjoy it for our Shabbat dessert. According to the Talmud, the majority of the winter rains have fallen by Tu BiShvat. Israel has had a wet winter. According to predictions by meteorologists, the first part of the winter would be wet, and the second half dry. We haven't seen a drop of rain since the big storm a few weeks ago that brought record amounts of snow and rain to Israel, but we may still have enough extra water to sell some to neighboring countries. The New … [Read more...]

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“Jerusalem is Full of Frechot”

January 16, 2013 by 11 Comments

In my last post, I wrote about the techniques used by a charedi Jerusalem school to discourage sephardic girls from applying. But subtle discrimination against sephardim (Jews with family origins in Moslem countries) occurs in all sectors. A friend of mine is looking for a junior high school for her daughter.  Another parent urged her to find a more exclusive school than the one in the neighborhood, warning her that "Jerusalem is full of frechot." Many American immigrants miss the subtle slurs against sephardim and unconsciously (or consciously) adapt them. I hadn't heard the term often but suspected that it must be referring to sephardi girls, so I looked it up. Frecha, a common name … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Israeli Living

School Requires Students to Pray with Ashkenazi Accent

January 2, 2013 by 30 Comments

The radio reported yesterday morning that a Beit Yaakov high school in Jerusalem was requiring future students to sign a form confirming that they will pray with an Ashkenazi accent. Walla has a report on the story. Here are a few of the questions and conditions listed: Preference is given to girls whose fathers are "graduates of holy yeshivas" and whose mothers are Beit Yaakov graduates. "Prayer in our school must be with an ashkenazi accent (havara). Registration to our school requires the girl to pray with an ashkenazi accent." Walla point out that the pronunciation and accent of words is completely different for sephardi girls, and some sephardi rabbis maintain that the prayer … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Schools

Ten Books I Loved in 2012

December 26, 2012 by 22 Comments

Inspired by Nina Badzin, I'm sharing the books I most enjoyed in 2012. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick. Demick tells the story of 6 North Korean refugees who escaped to South Korea. One woman, a doctor who completely accepted the government's propaganda, changed her mind when she first made the illegal crossing to China. Entering a private yard, she was perplexed by a bowl of meat and rice on the ground. After a moment a dog came to claim the food, and the woman realized that the dogs in China eat better than the richest people in North Korea. This book will depress you, it will horrify you, and you will never forget it. Alone in Berlin, by Hans … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books
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