Rebecca Solnit: On Not Meeting Nazis Halfway
I’m loving this piece by Rebecca Solnit at Literary Hub. Let’s look at violence and the political divide in America right now.
Photo: Stare Hatred, Ignorance, and Racism in the Face.
We need this reminder right now: Post-Election Slow-Motion Coup Madness Trump’s face says it all here. Not only couldn’t he…
055 | A New Jew’s Registry: Social Causes, Nefesh, and Some Holiday Cheer
Some things you can do to help me mark my milestone, including giving to some good causes, my budding Jewish community that’s doing great, fresh, necessary things and is in startup mode, or sending me a little something.
054 | Gone Goy: A Dip, a Daven, and Dance—I’m a Jewish!
I’m now legally, spiritually Jewish and dripping wet with emotions. Here’s what happened.
053 | Into the waters: Joining the ancestors, an interview with the AJU Mikvah
On Tuesday, October 6, 2020: I go to the mikvah today to become Jewish. Here are my thoughts the night before.
052 | Beit Done: Days of Awesome, Jewish Journey Limbo, and Holy Daze (One Year In)
Well, I did it! I had my Beit Din a couple weeks ago. I’ve been slammed since with these High…
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.
