An Empty Chair at the Holiday Table
When Parents and Adult Children Are Estranged Aging Jewishly – What Our Traditions Teach Us about Growing Old By Rabbi Barbara Aiello The cellphone chimed the first few bars of Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville”, jolting Julie out of her ten minute afternoon “schlaf.” “Did I catch you sleeping?” It was Beth, Julie’s oldest friend – the […]
Thanksgiving and Sukkot
Thanksgiving’s Jewish Connection Legend has it that the first Thanksgiving was a sort of neighborhood block party when settlers invited local Indians to a festive celebration with tables piled high with all sorts of yummy delights. But that’s not how it happened. The real story is that the English settlers observed that first Thanksgiving after […]
Labor Day Rosh Hashanah and Thanksgiving Chanukah – Enough Already!
Can We Bring the Generations Together with a New Diaspora Calendar? Aging Jewishly – What Our Traditions Tell Us about Growing Old By Rabbi Barbara Aiello Long before Covid complicated Jewish observance, there were ominous signs that participation in synagogue life, especially Holy Day and festival services, was on the decline. Dependent as we Jews […]
The Holocaust’s Official Beginning Compels the Story of an Extraordinary Man
It was November 9 and 10, 1938 when the streets of major German cities were covered with sparkling shards of glass, but unbeknownst to the world, those pieces were the initial testimony to the unspeakable Nazi horror yet to come. Officials did nothing while Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues were destroyed. Streets were littered with […]
