Are you a Member of the Tribe?
I must confess, it wasn't until fairly recently that I heard the term M.O.T., as in member of the tribe. But then the person who asked if the guy I was telling him about was an MOT, probably had never...
View ArticleAnd now I turn into a matzoh ball?
And now (because I'm so Jewish) I will turn into a matzoh ball! Okay, HOW did I miss this video of MaNishtana that pulls in interviews and pieces from his most infamous and awesome videos? The funny...
View ArticleThe Growing Implications of the Current Conversion Crisis that nobody seems...
Beverly Hills High School, one of the best public high schools in LA, has a large Jewish student population. If you talk to laypeople in the Orthodox community about the conversion crisis, you'll note...
View ArticleGet in the Rosh Hashanah Spirit!
Rosh Hashana Plush Set from Brochin's The Jewish new year is upon us again! Boy, in some ways that went by really fast and in other ways...painfully slow. I can't believe Rosh Hashanah is back though...
View ArticleMy Jewish Community Heroes
Hope you had a great Rosh Hashana and are gearing up for Yom Kippur this upcoming Shabbos. Ug, I hate when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbos but after all the food I had over Rosh Hashana, which this year...
View ArticleTo Those Who Judge Unfavorably...I am NOT a Piñata!
This Rosh Hashanah, I was accused of un-Rebbetzin-like behavior by a stranger who didn't even know me, who didn't even talk to me, at a local minyan I attended. I don't know this person. I don't know...
View ArticleCONVERSION IS PRIVATE!!!!
My friend Hadassah, who is an awesome daily blogger, just wrote a post defending converts and their right to privacy. Please visit the post, it's called "Conversion is Private" and please weigh in with...
View ArticleThe Big Bang Theory & Judaism
More than once, a friend has confused me for someone who believes in Creationism. They see me as an Orthodox Jew and therefore, as a "fundamentalist" and so, of course, they figure I must believe in...
View ArticleI.O.U.
Another head covering eaten by my afro. Yes, dear, I owe you a blog post. There have been many recent developments I'd like to share. Unfortunately, none of them mean coming back to blogging full-time...
View ArticleFor Baby Leyla
Funny video on Kangaroo Care for Babies: Please note that for as long as possible, the donate button on my website will be raising money for my niece Leyla and her parents. Leyla has had difficult time...
View ArticleI am thankful for...
Before this year ends and Rosh Hashanah begins next week, I want to thank G-d for the most precious gift my family received this year: my niece Leyla. We also received first my niece Emme and various...
View ArticleTrust me, you really don't...
want to ask me what I am or where I'm from or what my background is anymore. In Los Angeles, it's a different world. The Jewish world is smaller and the diversity is obvious as you walk down Pico Blvd....
View ArticleWhere I Come From (Am I a Sardine?)
As far as I knew before any genealogical tests, I was Dominican: the product of a white Dominican father and a mixed race afro-Dominican mother. I was decidedly Spanish. I was also African. And maybe...
View ArticleWhere I Come From (Part 2)-NONSPECIFIC
23andMe's Speculative Estimate made things a bit more interesting. The largest changes were in my European descent. I was 58.2% European: 46% Southern European: 20.6%...
View ArticleWhere I Come From (Part 3)-ALIEN!!!!!!!
AND THEN CAME ANCESTRY.COM: As I was ogling and showing all my friends the varied results, the results from Ancestry.com's new genetic test came back and I had some new perplexing data to deal with:...
View ArticleWhere I Come From (Part 4) aka MY WORLD TOUR
So after the whole Earl thing, my husband decided to refer to me only as Princess Aliza, Lady Aliza and Duchess Aliza and said that it explained my noble (read: holier-than-thou, I'm right, you're...
View ArticleSo, the next time...
someone asks (very infrequently) in Los Angeles: Where are you from? Where are your parents from? Where are your grandparents from? What's your maiden name? What's your background? I'm either going to...
View ArticleWait, I'm what?! Putting the Anglo in Anglo-Saxon.
Okay, as if it wasn't shocking enough to find out that I was significantly English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish Catholic as in Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland and French when I thought I was...
View ArticleI have always been...
(I was at home for both photos but yes, that's my hair uncovered. May you never suffer from the multiple conditions that cause my head, face, scalp to constantly hurt. I am likely one of the few women...
View ArticleJewminicana in Lakewood
During the past holidays, I gave an interview to The Lakewood Shopper that I've been meaning to post on here. You can see the two parts of the interviews here: "Jewminicana Part I" See pages 64-68...
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