Nancy Kalikow Maxwell
By Nancy Kalikow Maxwell
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Culture Dating at 62: A Cautionary Tale
“A tall man with a college education and a full head of hair.” When my friend, an over-60 single woman, decided she was ready to start dating, those were the only three requirements she had for her new man. The guy didn’t need to be attractive or wealthy, just a nice guy with these minimal…
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Life What Happens When Hadassah Women Tour the World Erotic Art Museum?
Tony Oats doubled over in laughter when he heard our request. Never before in his ten years as a museum employee, had he received such a funny inquiry. “Could you show us some uncircumcised penises, please? We’re a bunch of older Jewish ladies and most of us have never seen one.” Straightening up, he shook…
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Culture Naomi Wilzig, Founder of Erotic Art Museum, Dies at 80
Jewish grandmothers don’t usually wear penis necklaces or hang signs announcing “Buying Erotica” while antique shopping. But, Naomi Wilzig, who died in her sleep on Tuesday at 80, was anything but your typical bubbe. Wilzig was the founder of the World Erotic Art Museum in Miami Beach, Florida, the largest privately-held erotic art collection in…
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Life In Search of My Ethel Mertz
I never seriously considered becoming Orthodox. I like shrimp too much and Florida is way too hot for wigs. But I was tempted twenty years ago by one phone conversation. The Orthodox woman who coordinated the chevra kadisha (burial society) I participated in was calling to request my assistance at a taharah, ritual preparation of…
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News A (Mixed) Blessing on My Jewish Head
When I worked at a Catholic college, the nuns were forever blessing me, even when I hadn’t sneezed. The nuns’ blessings were like a warm, fuzzy blanket on a cold winter night. During my seven years at the college, I came to admire the dedication and selflessness of the sisters. I considered it the highest…
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News Wearing a Black Ribbon Helped One Jewish Widow Mend Her Soul
A week after her mother died, my friend called with an unusual request. “Can I borrow the black ribbon you used when Rod died?” Though she had been given one at the funeral, she had misplaced it amid the confusion of the shiva. “I want to keep wearing it,” she explained. “If I remember correctly,…
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News House-Hunting in Florida Suburbia Turns Into Great Mezuzah Trek
My childhood friend Sami’s mother claimed she could drive down a residential street and pick out where fellow Jews lived. Granted, most Jews don’t select colonial décor — too Daughters of the American Revolution for our taste. But she denied relying on knotty-pine coffee tables to weed out the non-Jews. Rather, she claimed to possess…
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News A Lonely Jew at Catholic School
‘Let us pray” often opens funerals and weddings, but budget meetings? When you work at a Catholic college, you come to expect getting blessed without sneezing and praying before committee meetings. The first time I heard prayer at work was at a staff meeting at the Catholic college library where I had just been hired….
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