We are living in dark times. I know this because people are saying it to me all the time. We are living in dark times. We reach for that metaphor because we are frightened and we need big language. "Dark times" has a pageantry, an epicness to it. Yes, children, gather round and Grandpa Irwin will tell you about the Dark Times.
A New King Arose: A Master Story for Protesters and Protectors
This story, this exodus story, is our master story for this moment. We know it well. We retell it every year. We have digested it along with so much parsley and saltwater. It is in our cells. We know it starts with enslavement. And we know it ends with freedom.
Read moreFear, Anxiety, Awe: A Road Trip
I was having pre-departure anxiety. Not just related to my trip, but related to the incoming administration and what I have been thinking about in anticipation as "the new era." I have had so much pre-departure anxiety that it has turned into fear. Because anxiety needs a destination.
Read moreThe Rebbetzin's Moon (A Tale of Missing Latkes)
She returned to her kitchen and lit lamps. The oven was hot. She inspected the larder. She still had potatoes, onions. But she only had her own two hands. The singing was beginning in the next room. And she wanted to hear her husband’s teaching so she could challenge him on it later. She made up her mind and walked into the parlor, now crowded with men. Her husband was lighting the eight candles of the last night of Hanukkah. “Omeyn,” she said loudly.
Read moreGifts of the Queers
Many of us left families of origin to form families of friends. Many of us brought children into the world in complicated and creative family arrangements – with multiple adults, exes, friends, all playing a role in raising children who will never have cause to doubt just how wanted they were. Yes, those of us in queer families know the difference between kinship and biology, and that is something we can teach the Jewish world.
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