Archive
This year, I realized something new about the holiday of Sukkot. Sukkot challenges us to envision and construct a new kind of Jewish community, one that lies outside of our everyday institutions. We are commanded to dwell in a new reality, where we welcome in all those on the margins of our community, as well […]
NOTE: Mayim Bialik apologized publicly for her remarks after this letter was written. Click here to see her apology. Dear Mayim, Let’s talk – Orthodox feminist to Orthodox feminist. You represent me. You might not mean to but you do. With the exception of Ivanka Trump (oy), you’re probably the most visible Orthodox woman in […]
Grammar fact: A semicolon comes at the end of a sentence that could have ended with a period, with finality – but didn’t. Many suicide attempt survivors, including myself, have semicolons tattooed on our bodies to represent that our stories aren’t over yet. Our lives could have ended when we attempted suicide – but didn’t. […]
This Yom Kippur, I sat in Kol Tzedek synagogue, where the majority of the congregation and the rabbi identify as queer or trans, thinking about how the last day of Sukkot falls on National Coming Out Day this year. Something felt natural about this intersection of celebrations and communities. During Sukkot, we come out of […]
“Could you be imagining a problem where there isn’t one?” The question caught me off guard. Where had I gone wrong? I had come to the campus medical practice at the allotted appointment time. I had waited there for almost two hours, the reception staff reassuring me every so often that it wouldn’t be long. […]
What do you do the day after a fast? (Sleep? Reflect? Make up for a day of missed meals by eating like a hobbit?) For hundreds of Jewish activists, the answer was march across the Brooklyn Bridge. When the Washington D.C. March for Racial Justice was organized on Yom Kippur, Jews gathered for solidarity marches […]
A version of this article was published in Times of Israel. Edie Windsor, who passed away last month at 88, will be remembered as many things – a hero, an icon, a trailblazer, and also rarely emphasized, Jewish. Yes, the same Edie Windsor who led the fight in overturning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) at […]
As I reflect on this past year, moments of crisis stand out in my mind. I think about the ways in which God has tested me and my community. I think about experiencing a surreal and seemingly endless stream of challenges, pushing me to stand for my Jewish values that suddenly felt under attack. Even […]
Throughout college, I struggled with an eating disorder. In many ways, it first manifested itself during Yom Kippur freshman year. From there, it was a downward spiral into self-hatred, an obsession with calories, and compensatory cardio. Four Yom Kippurs in a row, I fasted too easily. The challenge was not for me to abstain from […]
On Oct. 1, I’m going to the March For Racial Justice in Providence, Rhode Island – and my motivation for participating has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. For me, this march isn’t about the history of Jewish persecution. It’s about not only standing in solidarity with people marginalized around the world but also making a […]