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Tattooed Jew

Dear… Everyone, Rosh Hashanah is approaching, and I’ve been struggling with what to say. It’s a time of introspection, a time for looking back at all of the things in the past year, reevaluating, reassessing, and moving forward. We will feed each other apples and honey for a sweet and bountiful year to come, and…

Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba. Exalted and hallowed be God’s great name.   This is the beginning of the Mourner’s Kaddish, one of the most beautiful and moving prayers I have ever found. It is a prayer said in memory of those we have lost. It is a prayer more of of America should be paying…

I know I’m supposed to say the Mod(e)(a)h Ani first thing in the morning. Before I get out of bed. Before I say hello to my dogs. Before I have a first cup of coffee. After all, what greater gift is there than the return of one’s soul to one’s body. It should be the…

Last week, Rabbi Daniel Alter of Berlin was on his way home from picking up his daughter. He was approached, asked if he was Jewish, and then attacked when he responded yes. Among the many responses to this attack was one from Gideon Joffe, who heads the Jewish community in Berlin, who stated that he…

I read today that Egypt has closed the last remaining working synagogue in the country — Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria (you can check out the article for yourself here). I can’t find anything about it on the major news sources (NY Times, Huffington Post, etc.) so I’m holding out judgment on whether it’s true…

Ok, I like to think I’m fairly smart. I know I’m not Einstein or Foucault or Tessla, but I generally can read the news and understand what’s going on. But I do not understand Tom Smith, GOP Senate candidate. When asked, at the Pennsylvania Press Club, about his views on abortion and rape, he mentioned…

I despise the language of war. We use it all the time — a war on drugs, a war on women’s bodies, attacks on this, attacks on that. We draw lines. We pick sides. We approach politics and religion like the other side is an enemy combatant that we must defeat. In general, I find…

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I love words. I love languages. I love the nuance and grammar and all of those things that were so boring when we had to learn them in grade school. It’s this love that has dictated so many of my tattoos, and which brings me…

It’s memorial day and the world is filled with Facebook posts, blogs, tweets, and news headlines honoring those veterans without whom I would not be able to sit here and write. It is good and honorable to talk about those vets who have given their last breath to make sure that I am free enough…

There are these two stories I want to tell, both of which happened on May 9th of this year. See, I’ve intentionally waited for a while to write about the passing of NC Amendment One. I was hoping to find some peace. A place where my emotions and feelings were settled and I could pinpoint…
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