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My sister is in town, and it isn’t surprising that the conversation often turns to our mother, hers and mine. The discussion typically begins with Anita recalling how, “our mother used to say…” ,”used to prepare…”, “used to pronounce…” or “used to like…”, and ends when I respond by saying, “not my mother.” There are […]
My children attended Akiba Academy, now known as Sinai Akiba, from grades K-8. When Norm and I chose that particular school, the decision was based on reputation, philosophy, and location. We were young parents and had no idea how that choice would impact not only the lives of our children, but our lives as well. […]
As a little boy he dreamed of being a cowboy, raised in the era of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and The Cisco Kid. All Norm wanted was a pony and a six-gun, but the closest he came was horse-back riding, living on Kibbutz and wearing a cowboy hat He even named his bike Trigger. Over […]
I grew up hearing stories of my grandmothers and their preparations for Passover, most of which began way in advance of the holiday. The walls had to be whitewashed, the geese had to be slaughtered and the goose fat rendered, and the down pillows were opened so that the feathers could be cleaned and re-stuffed […]
I look back on my childhood and wonder how I felt as a young girl walking through the front door of our home knowing that the language would shift from English to Yiddish. My recollection is that I always liked Yiddish, having positive associations with the language and understanding that the words were so much more […]
Last week I turned on the Food Network and Giada De Laurentiis had just blanched a pot of Brussel Sprout leaves. Unfortunately I missed her technique for separating the leaves, but the result looked so appealing that I decided to try to duplicate it. My friend Sheila had invited us over to try a new […]
Growing up, all of my parents’ friends were Polish Jews. As immigrants, they wanted to surround themselves with people who had similar experiences and backgrounds, people who shared common customs, language, and food. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I met Jews who looked different, spoke Hebrew or Ladino (as opposed to Yiddish), […]
Bamitbach 