Challah with a Chinese Twist

Challah with a Chinese Twist

There’s a not-so-funny joke that goes, “A man walks into a Chinese restaurant and says to the waiter, ‘Excuse me sir, but are there any Chinese Jews?’ To which the waiter replies, ‘No, sir, we just have orange juice, apple juice, grapefruit juice…’” It’s...
Becoming a Jewish Ethiopian American Family

Becoming a Jewish Ethiopian American Family

It is an incredible responsibility to raise a child. In choosing foreign adoption, we have become parents to a beautiful daughter and added a new culture to our family life. Our daughter, Eliyana Bracha Nuhamin, became legally ours on Nov 18th, 2013. As part of our...
What Do You Call a Questioning Convert? Rabbi.

What Do You Call a Questioning Convert? Rabbi.

“Why did you convert?” I have been asked this question many times before, sometimes out of deep interest and sometimes out of polite curiosity. It is a question I am never quite sure how to answer. It is, after all, a question that does not (and probably should not)...
The Poetry of Jewish Black Identity

The Poetry of Jewish Black Identity

I became Bar Mitzvah on April 20th, 2002, the 130th anniversary of Hitler’s birth. My dad’s side of the family wore West African dashikis. The only other time my temple had held that many Black people was Bingo night. We did not have the money to rent a hotel or hire...