051 | Beit Din Today: A Winding, Delayed Journey
The final leg in this unpredictable path is both exciting and daunting
050 | Rewind: Pesach, Patience, and Seinfeld-Era Memories of Matzah and Maror
Passover is one of the highlights of the Jewish calendar and nearing the home stretch of my Jewish journey to…
049 | My Poor Jerusalem: Tisha B’av, Portland, and Grief
This week as I marked my first Tisha B’av as part of the community, booms filled the sky. Smoke filled the air in Portland and beyond, and I thought of all the atrocities that befell Israel over time and how we’re now seeing it again in America.
048: Shabbat Shalom, The Middot Project, Nine Days of Av, and First Year of Learning
A special Shabbat greeting and some learning and action resources to share
047 | George Soros Did Not Pay for This Post: QAnon and Deep State-Delusion are Deeply Anti-Semitic, Y’all
The far-right takeover of the mainstream GOP, a call for mass violence, and anti-semitism
046 | Unorthodox, One of Us, Shtisel: My Orthodox Netflix Crash-Course
It’s peak Netflix in general, but also for Jewish and Haredi content. Here’s what I learned. One of Us Netflix,…
045: Support Jewish artists and other small business during the downturn (it’s a mitzvah)
Etsy is a wonderful place to support Jewish artists and other small businesses as you’re able; inside: My first mezuzah, first Star of David, and some fun finds
044 | Mom, Dad: I think I’m Jewish. Coming out all over again! The Pride Issue 🏳️🌈
Realizing and Actualizing My Newfound Jewish Identity Was Easier Thanks to Coming Out 20 Years Ago
043 | The Jewish Call for Social Justice: Black Lives, Our Failed System, & Tikkun Olam
Tikkan Olam Means Black Lives Matter and how to take action
042: Jason Rosenberg: Larry Kramer Taught Me How to Be an Angry Gay Jew
A great activist I know on another great activist’s passing. I feel so much this even as a not-quite-officially Jew,…
041: A little Torah for Shavuot: Don’t be a mask-hole. Shavuot round-up, Converts, & Ruth
A little torah (study) for Shavuot follows; Shavuot is the Jewish holiday that once was a harvest festival and now…
040: Freedom in the time of Shavuot
Listening to people steeped in privilege complain of their oppression and compare it to slavery is particularly hard if you’re…
039: G?d, G!d, and G-d: Who you gonna wrestle?
What does Judaism traditionally believe about the big man? For starters, not a man.
038: I’m in the press! Many people are having their Jewish conversions delayed. #DOJ #DelayOfJewish
Check out this piece over at Jewish Telegraphic Agency, I have a brief quote and photo.
037: 40 Days and 40 Nights in Quarantine: What’s in a name?
Today marks 40 days in quarantine for me give or take Trader Joe’s visits, a small work move, a big…
036: TBT: Hot Girl Purim Vibes, and Desserts that Are Definitely Vajayjays
Just about the last big in-person event I went to PC / BC* was Purim with my Nefesh community. What…
035: Pop culture moment: Sukkah-in-Place, Urchatz, the Ides, and Passover
Our Pharaoh is shrugging at the plagues, telling us to go back to work on the Pyramids, and Christian Bale is nowhere to be found.
034: Join me for Passover: Nefesh LA Zeder (that’s a Zoom Seder)
Looking for somewhere to “go” for Pesach? Maybe you’ve heard of Nefesh in LA but it was too far? It’s…
033: Alma: How to Make Your Quarantine as Jewish as Possible
Link: https://www.heyalma.com/how-to-make-your-quarantine-as-jewish-as-possible/
032: The Big Birthday, Uncertainty, & Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Lives & Taking Care of Ourselves
Uncertainty. We’re all united in it right now, are we not? My Rabbi Susan Goldberg spoke so well of it…
031: Land of Feta & Dates: Wrestling with Issues in Israel as a soon-to-be-Jew
Land of Feta & Dates: Wrestling with my thoughts on Israel is hard. But planning a solo Hebrew honeymoon to study and immerse? Easy!
030: Wo/Man, this week was a long year. Things keeping me sane
Things keeping me sane include Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
029: Judaism’s Best Ideas: A Listicle
Torah. Echad. Tikkun. Halakha. Shabbat. Judaism’s Best Ideas IMHO (in my Hebrew opinion)
028: Flashback Friday: Mikvah orientation, feeling underwater, and halfway mark
Post from 2019, way back yonder before we nearly had WW3 with Iran and a President was impeached but nothing…
027: MLK, Tzedakah, and Injustice in America
The messages of the civil rights movement of economic and social justice are needed now as we enter fascism and a new robber-baron era
026: Oi to the World: First Hanukkah, Awkward Family Christmas, and I *Heart* Maccabees
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! So they say, and it was a Jew who wrote that
025: Bacon, Bread, and Butter: Haven’t I snipped out enough?
No pork. Dairy. Gluten. No bagels, no bacon. No Christmas trees.
022: Jews in Space, Spock, and The Moon
Nimoy’s contributions, a Jewess astronaut, and the Moon landing as a spiritual experience
021: Lech Lecha, A Song, and Blessing the World
This week’s parshah, a song, and venturing out
020: We need to talk about Stephen Miller: Challaween, Masks, and Identity
I was shocked to learn Miller is Jewish
019: Bat Mitzvah, Ikarious, and the Trees of Life and Wisdom
I visited a new synagogue: Ikar, the mid-city progressive-yet-conservative-denomination that I’ve heard a lot about
018: The Lego Sukkot Movie, Etrog on My Face, and Study
Sukkot obsession, fun while learning, and things I got wrong
017: When Life Gives You Lulavs: It’s a Mitzvah to be happy on Sukkot
At Sukkot, the fall harvest festival, it’s a mitzvah to be happy. I’m not happy.
016: Yiddlife Crisis, Wandering the Desert, and Transparent
I made new friends including creators I admire while learning my Rabbi had already been teaching me this whole time
015: Yom Kippur & Schrödinger’s Jew: Practicing but not quite there yet
I survived my first YK and all I got was this spirituality, connection, wonder, yearning, belonging, insights, new friends, and a dash of dizziness
014: Down to the River: Taslich and Tossing My Woes Away
A beautiful ceremony on the LA river about letting go
013: Hot Girl Rosh Hashanah: Shofar Sho Good!
My longest services yet and a great start to 5880. (5779 was trash)
012: Picking a Rabbi, A Community, and a Name
Forging a Jewish Identity: How I chose a Rabbi, a community, and a Hebrew name—with love–while being very pissed off at the state of the world.
011: Teshuvah and Trump: Practicing the Jewish & Being a Mensch
Evangelical Christian support for Donald Trump, the antithesis of a Mensch, explained
010: God, Golden Joinery, & A Mikvah for Your Mouth
Kintsugi, kintsukuroi, and instant conversion and repair!
008: First Synagogue, First Kippah, and an Unfortunate Keychain
I was nervous about my first temple experience
007: First Shabbat & Picnic Under the Stars
Danielle: Wait so, are you converting? Yes. Eat this giant picnic.
006: Tisha B’av, Pico-Robertson, and Guru Ram Das Ashram
A lovely Sunday stroll on the westside resulted in a series of serendipitous events
005: Fear & Bloating in Los Angeles: Ain’t No Challah-Back Goy
So I embarked on a journey.
003: First Day of School – and I guess I go to the westside now
I jumped right into Jewish learning and rigorous, late-night googling
002: Doing Jewish: Away We Goy!
I awoke suddenly again before my alarm, early on a June morning. Judaism popped into my head.
001: A Blog? In this economy?
I decided to convert and quickly had the realization that maybe I’ve been a lapsed Jew all along—and that I owed it to myself to document my strange, new, unexpected journey.
