In the late 19th century, my grandfather Jacob and his brothers left their Russian shtetl to seek a new life in South Africa. The rigors of pioneer life were not to Jacob’s liking; he returned to Russia, married my grandmother and immigrated to America. His brothers remained in South Africa, where they prospered and multiplied…
A few months before I began rabbinical school in Jerusalem, my father proposed that we take a trip to Nepal. I was 22 and in the middle of writing the Great American Novel, but I didn’t mind the interruption. I welcomed the prospect of trekking together through the rugged and remote mountain kingdom, a father…
Jake Tapper, the CNN anchor known for his tough questions for politicians, is paying tribute on Wednesday to gold-star families, tweeting out photos of deceased American soldiers with their spouses and children. Tapper, who hosts cable’s “The Lead,” is honoring Gold Star Spouses’ Day, which focuses on the needs and concerns of those whose husbands…
Don’t be alarmed, but Passover is coming! It often feels that as my Purim costume is being stored away the Passover dishes are simultaneously dusted off with the countdown to the Seder frantically beginning. Matzah suddenly appears everywhere, securing a brisket becomes a priority and spring cleaning takes on a completely different meaning. In just…
You could say Jon Eisen got his on-the-job training early. At Between the Bread, the legendary Manhattan eatery and catering company founded by his mother, Ricky Eisen, in 1979, Eisen said he would always do his Hebrew school homework “on one of the café tables, in front of customers.” Chefs would pull him into the…
My 80-year-old Russian Jewish grandmother did not vote for Donald Trump. She lives in Massachusetts, so it didn’t make much of a difference in the election’s outcome. Qualitatively, however, her vote mattered. Having started out in Trump’s corner, like the overwhelming majority of ex-Soviet Jews, particularly older ones, she allowed herself to be persuaded by…
As the summer ends, Americans get back to business, and for American Jews, there’s no bigger business than the High Holidays at your local synagogue. I have some unconventional advice for you this year: Don’t go. Instead of attending the kitschy mass performances that even your rabbi probably finds uninspiring, choose a different holiday from…
When her new chocolate company needed a name, Sara Meyer and her husband, Corey, decided to connect it to his maternal grandmother — Faigele/Faigy/Fay, meaning little bird in Yiddish — and her love of chocolate. Both are memorialized in the name they came up with: Little Bird. While Fay usually kept several boxes of random…
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