by Webmaster | Feb 22, 2022 | Identity
I can count the number of JOC peers I had growing up on one hand. Despite the lack of diversity in my synagogue and youth groups, I still loved Jewish learning and being actively involved in the community. And, at the same time, I often felt different than my peers...
by Webmaster | Feb 10, 2022 | Holidays, Identity
Growing up, Taili He-Brenners imagined that as an adult she would leave rituals she observed with her parents’ families behind. Shabbat dinners with her mother’s side and Lunar New Year with her father’s side were somewhat dull. “Growing up I did not care about...
by Webmaster | Feb 7, 2022 | Holidays, Identity
This week was a particularly memorable first in a year of many firsts. Eight months ago, our family moved from our long-time home in New York to my wife’s hometown of Seoul, Korea. It was difficult to uproot ourselves and leave behind our beloved city. However, our...
by Webmaster | Feb 3, 2022 | Identity
Jennifer Esteen is a nurse, mother, community activist and in the running to become California’s first Black-Jewish Gay Assemblymember. I sat down with Esteen to discuss how her many identities shape her activism and what she hopes her legacy will be. Below are...
by Webmaster | Feb 3, 2022 | Holidays, Identity
Our family is Jewish and Chinese: one of us was born in New York City to Chinese immigrant parents, and the other to a European American couple in Michigan. From the moment we met and became a couple, our family culture and traditions have been fully Jewish, fully...
by Webmaster | Jan 13, 2022 | Holidays, Identity
One of Navajo Emily McDonnell’s favorite holidays is Tu B’shvat, The New Year of Trees, this holiday provided her with a frame for thinking about her move from the Southwest to the American South and her own growth. It is Spring 5781 (2021). It is the New Year for...
