Evelyn is an NYC based writer.
Evelyn Levine
By Evelyn Levine
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Community When a shiva is cut short
Shiva, the traditional Jewish mourning period for close relatives, is normally seven days long. It makes sense that shiva should be seven days. Seven (shiva in Hebrew) is a number with special significance in Judaism. The seven-branched menorah, a symbol of Judaism since ancient times. The seven times a bride circles the groom at the…
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Community Why Do Jews Have Gravestones?
The past year had been a really tough one for me. I experienced a frozen shoulder which lasted over six months, digestive symptoms only a GI doctor could listen to, multiple skin problems and — oh yeah — one of my front teeth suddenly came out unexpectedly while I was out of town. Also, I…
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Community Turning A Day of Rest Into A Call To Action
On Saturday, Congregation Bnai Jeshurun hosted a prayer session and a community program with inspirational speeches from local rabbis. Then, along with other UWS synagogues, participants marched up 5th avenue to join the NYC Women’s March. All the Jewish denominations, including some Orthodox synagogues, were represented at the March on Saturday. The Sabbath is the…
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Community Still Single on the Upper West Side
A kindly old man in my UWS building elevator asked me if I was married. I politely said no, I am not now, and have never been, married. He looked genuinely shocked. “What is wrong with all the boys today?” he asked. What is wrong indeed! I have my theories. But let me tell you…
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Community Idle Retirement? Not at the JCC!
Retirement was looming large on my horizon; filling me with equal measures of joy, dread, and uncertainty. My youthful idealism, which had lain dormant under bills, ills, and life’s many spills, started to resurface. My connection to the larger Jewish community, tenuous, and sporadic at best, seemed to be pulling me closer. I was looking…
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