Don't Censor What Scares You

By Alana Newhouse for Tablet Magazine   

When I was growing up, my parents and I would spend the second Passover Seder every year at the home of close friends. It was an intense ritual: thirty to forty people, somehow always seeming to range in age from birth to near-death, with many from differing backgrounds and with varying degrees of Jewish knowledge and experience, each offering to the collective his or her own particular investment: fluency in Hebrew and Aramaic, mastery of various commentaries on the Hagaddah, insight into current events, comic relief. Crumb1

My parents had become dedicated, beloved members of their modern Orthodox community, but neither had been raised in an observant home, and so neither had much to offer the group by way of formal religious knowledge. Until, that is, the year that my father stumbled upon “the karpas thing.”

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Passover is just about here, check out our Passover Holiday Spotlight Kit

A ‘Little Einsteins,’ For Little Mensches

By Amy Sara Clark for The Jewish Week   

New cartoon on Jewish values focuses on the ‘why' of Judaism rather than the ‘how.’

When Sarah Lefton began developing a video series for Jewish children, her first thought was to focus on Jewish ritual.

“When it first started, we thought it would be a series about demystifying the Shabbat experience — 50, one-minute videos about what happens on Shabbat,” said Lefton, founder and director of the nonprofit G-dcast, which makes videos and apps for those looking to learn more about Judaism.

But after talking to dozens of parents, it became clear that the families she was trying to reach, those with a “lower knowledge” base, were more interested in how to raise mensches than how to say the motzi. 

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Sending My Daughter to Jewish Summer Camp Sparked My Own Jewish Identity

Julie MacDonald for Kveller

I grew up Christian in a small Maine town. I spent my summers reading a stack of library books and hanging out in the backyard with my sister and neighborhood friends. In fact, I didn’t realize sleepaway camp was a “thing” until I went away to college and my Jewish classmates got teary-eyed discussing their camp experiences.

It baffled me. This is how people spent their summers? They left their families to hang out with people they saw for a few weeks every year while doing crazy stuff, like archery? Didn’t their parents love them?

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Don’t Fall for Those Viral Adoption Posts on Facebook

Leora Elman for Kveller

It seems like such a nice thing. A post on Facebook about a baby looking for adoptive parents. There is usually something unique about this baby’s circumstance—maybe a special medical condition, a specific race or religion, or a certain location.

You have a friend who is struggling with infertility (odds are that you know quite a few—infertility affects 1 in 6 couples trying to conceive). Maybe they even fit the special requirements of this post. So you click that “share” button or tag their name. Probably a long shot, but what’s the harm?

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Homemade Mishloach Manot Baskets for Purim

This week we bring you an article right from our Purim Holiday Spotlight Kit

ToriAvey.com

Purim is right around the corner, which means it’s time to start making Purim baskets – otherwise known as Mishloach Manot! Instead of rushing out to the local craft store for pre-made baskets, why not create homemade baskets with your kids?

These simple woven paper baskets are fun to make and give. They’re made from construction paper, and they’re super easy to put together!

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Why I’m Teaching My Son to Swim in the Dead of Winter

Rabbi Ilana Garber  for Kveller

I love the water. I’ve always felt most at peace near an ocean—whether at the lake at camp or swimming pool—just about anywhere work too. I’m not a great swimmer though, much to my chagrin, even though I swam daily during my first pregnancy, and dreamed of it daily during my second (my kids are just 18 months apart). Now I’m trying to get to the pool at least once a week for a few laps, while also taking a water aerobics class as part of my post-cancer recovery fitness plan.

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4 Defining Moments of Parenting

By Sara Debbie Gutfreund for The Jewish Voice

Treasuring the gift of our children.
Parenting is comprised of ordinary and extraordinary moments of connection and growth as I try my best to love, help and treasure my children. There are so many defining moments of parenting; moments that can uplift us and transform us if we hold onto them. Here are four precious moments that changed me.

1. The moment I decided to listen.

A teacher called and informed me that my daughter had come late to class and she didn't explain why. When my daughter came home that day, I wanted to cross-examine her. Why? Where were you? What's wrong with you?

I took one look at my daughter and I knew she needed me to listen, not talk. That’s how I found out that she was late for class because she was comforting a sobbing friend, and she didn't tell the teacher in order to protect her friend's privacy. In that moment, I listened and truly heard my child's voice.

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