Shalom at Home

We are hurtling through May toward the summer. Brace yourself, parents.

My first article in these pages was about “scruffy hospitality.” Dedicated readers of this esteemed column will recall that I encouraged us all to embrace the dust in the corners and the toys on the couch in the interest of welcoming more people into our home – and thus, our community. (I stand by that, by the way, even as I panicked about the literal dust in the corners only minutes before my Seder.)

Passover is, hands down, one of my all-time favorite Jewish holidays. A gripping story? Check. A delicious meal? Absolutely. A gathering of friends and family filled with song, laughter and a high-stakes game of afikomen hide-and-seek? Check, check and double check.

On the first night of Passover, the opening of our festival of liberation, the celebration of the birth of our peoplehood, Darby, my oldest son, will be 10 hours away at a Greco-Roman athletic competition.

Do we want to raise our kids to be more like Esther or Vashti?

“Purple” by Alexis Rotella

“In first grade / Mrs. Lohr said / my purple teepee / wasn’t realistic enough / that purple was no color for a tent… that my drawing / wasn’t good enough to hang / with the others.”

February is Jewish Disability Awareness Inclusion Month (JDAIM), which aims unite Jewish communities around the country in support for individuals with disabilities and their right to be respected, valued and included in all aspects of Jewish community living.

When my daughter got engaged to a man who was raised Catholic, I sought counsel from a rabbi I knew.

A few months ago, I had a conference call with two very impressive people. Kind, professional and eminently learned, Adam Pollack and Rabbi Miriam Wajnberg represented 18Doors, an organization with a vital and thoroughly modern mission: to empower people in interfaith relationships to engage in Jewish life, make Jewish choices and encourage Jewish communities to welcome them.

There is a story in Judaism that I think about a lot. The story of Abraham, who, as the tale goes, sees three strangers walking in the desert. Rather than turning away from what could realistically have been a dangerous situation, Abraham runs to these men.