“What is the Holocaust?” is a Hard Question for Too Many College Students
The majority of you will be startled and sickened when you watch this video. Some may nervously laugh (like me), as a reaction to what at first can be perceived as pure ignorance; but as...
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Feeling at Home in Jewish Preschool
The Northern California air is crisp and biting as I unbuckle my son from his car seat and slide his arms into his Spiderman sweatshirt. “Stand right here by me and don’t move,” I warn him, reaching...
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A Second Chance at Jewish Preschool for My Son with Special Needs
I had always envisioned my children growing up feeling the sense of “Jewishness” that was so special to me in my own childhood, so we started our son at a Jewish preschool at the age of 2. But it...
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My Daughter’s Very Wrong—But Very Right—Idea of What Makes Her Jewish
My daughter started Hebrew School last week. She’s in kindergarten and will be learning the Jewish fundamentals—holidays, traditions, lifecycle events—all the good stuff. For me this is a huge...
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Has the Bat Mitzvah Party Overtaken the Bat Mitzvah?
I knew bat mitzvahs were a bad idea. I told my husband this in 2001, about 20 minutes after we returned from the hospital with our two new daughters and he said, “My parents want to know when the baby...
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What I Learned Chaperoning 45 6th Graders to the Holocaust Museum
The bumpy ride and cacophonous roar of the kids’ voices were giving me a headache. I was on a bus with 45 sixth graders, full of hormones and fart jokes, on our way to the Lower East Side in...
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Do My Children Really Need Formal Jewish Education to be Good Jews?
I want to raise my children with a strong sense of spirituality and connection to their Jewish heritage. But I’m struggling with the reality that my children do not like going to religious school, and...
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Why My Kids Go to Hebrew School–Whether They Like It or Not
I hated Hebrew school. It was the only place in my life I ever got in trouble. My best friend and I–usually steadfast rule followers–always found ourselves holding back snorts in the back of the...
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Why My Kids Are Going Back to Jewish Day School
For four years, my children attended Community Day School, Pittsburgh’s independent Jewish day school located in Squirrel Hill, the city’s historically Jewish neighborhood. The school’s mission is to...
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Mayim Bialik: The Hebrew Prayer That Brought My Son & Me Together
How did it happen? How did he do it? How did we do it? He’s almost 10 now. He still has so many echoes of his tiny self. Those big eyes. The rosy cheeks. The sweet cuddles and the smile that melts my...
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When Jewish Education Becomes a Family Affair
In the 80s, my father and I did parent/child Hebrew classes (before it was cool). Every Saturday afternoon after religious school, my father arrived at our temple with a Burger King Italian Chicken...
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Why I Decided to Homeschool My Son’s Jewish Education
I recently spent several months debating whether or not to send our son to one of the local synagogues’ religious schools, and whether it was worth the time and money. As I am currently homeschooling...
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The ‘Only Jew at the Dinner Table’ Feeling
When I was four weeks from my due date with my first child, my husband and I moved into our first home in a small enclave of Los Angeles. After renting in an area that was Hipster Central, we were...
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Why I’m OK with My Kids’ School ‘Teaching to the Test’
Drill and Kill. That’s what rote memorization is often called in educational circles today. The general thinking is that mindlessly learning facts quashes kids’ natural curiosity and teaches them that...
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Sending My Daughter to Jewish Preschool Reconnected Me with My Roots
My daughter Sophie will be 3 this November. My husband Philippe and I have decided to let her start half-day preschool (she’s begged). Still, we’re late starting to look at options. I can’t settle on...
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On Not Keeping Kosher Anymore With My Kids After My Husband Died
When my late husband Peter was a teenager, his mom stumbled upon a box with leather straps in his closet. Disturbed over her discovery, she raced downstairs to address him. He explained it was tefillin...
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Why I’m Not Forcing My Daughter to Attend Hebrew High School
The other night, I went to dinner with a number of good friends I hadn’t seen all summer. Over drinks and Pad Thai, we were able to catch up, talk about our crazy summer schedules, and wonder at how...
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6 Ways My Kid’s Hebrew School Made Me a Better Jew
My daughter, 7, just started a new year of religious school. Although she doesn’t enjoy every moment — I mean, does any kid?! — she is genuinely excited about it, especially since she bonded with her...
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When You Choose a Jewish Home Over Jewish Day School
Earlier this year, I wrote a piece on how I was thinking about Jewish day school for my now 4.5-year-old son, but was torn because to send him, I’d need to return to work full-time to pay for tuition....
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I’m an Atheist. Here’s Why I Send My Kids to Hebrew School.
I’m an atheist who sends my kids to religious school. Believe me, I’m aware of how paradoxical this sounds. People have asked me why on earth I’d get involved in organized religion. And yet, I feel...
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