The Cake I’m Making for my Daughter’s High-School Graduation
This month, my oldest daughter, Hadas, is graduating from high school. And in honor of her graduation, her high school invited all the parents, girls, and faculty up to Beit El to attend a Shabbaton together next week. This has been a dream of a high school for Hadas, who has made so many dear […]
Read MoreWhen a Mother is Spilt Milk
There was a mom who gave birth to a lot of children close together. On the one hand, she felt she needed a break. On the other hand, Hashem had blessed her with all this abundance, all these amazing children. How could she say “Not now” or possibly “Never” to another one? She and her […]
Read MoreSomething Cool I Learned on Shavuot
Didya ever notice that being a mom and a Jew is incredibly time consuming? How many hours a day do I spend caring for my kids and keeping this home functioning? How many hours a week do I spend doing Jewish stuff–and in particular, getting ready for Shabbat, and/or, depending on the time of year, […]
Read MoreShavuot on Mommy Duty
The perfect Shavuot bombards me from all directions. A 5-layer cheesecake in this magazine. Homemade white chocolate Torah scrolls lollipops for the kiddush in that one. And an elaborate table decorated with tropical flower arrangements in crystal goblets in yet another. And on a spiritual level? Fascinating classes for women around the corner from 11 […]
Read MoreMy Non-College Graduation
23 years ago this month I sat in the audience among the proud family members of my graduating classmates, as the dean of Bowdoin College pronounced “Jenny Ann Freedman, graduating in absentia.” I was very new to Orthodox Judaism, but even after a 10-week stint at Neve Yerushalayim the summer before, I knew that walking […]
Read More8 Things I Did to Transform my Life
This morning, talking with a very overwhelmed young mother, tears came to my eyes as I remembered when I was in her shoes. The paroxysms of rage at my children, the crippling anxiety, the paralyzing overwhelm which overshadowed my mothering life when my big kids were little. So what changed? To be clear, I still […]
Read MoreA Mother’s Priorities (18-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
How to define your top priorities and squeeze them into your life. https://vimeo.com/169416827
Read MoreMy Painful Soviet Summer
In the summer of 1991, as part of a Soviet-US cultural exchange, the US government sent me with a bunch of other college students to work as a counselor at a Soviet summer camp. In hopes of creating a spirit of friendship and mutual understanding between the Soviet and American peoples, I spent a month […]
Read MoreJewishMOM.com on Vacation until Wednesday June 1st
Hi JewishMOM, We just got back from a wonderful trip up north to Meron for Lag Ba’omer and then Tsfat for Shabbat (with my husband’s students). And now I realize that Sunday, Monday, Tuesday I will be making trips out of the city–which is something that usually happens once every few months, and not several […]
Read MoreLive Footage from Lag Baomer Festivities in Meron
I LOVE Lag baomer…Love the music, the dancing, the excited children singing around their bonfires. The unity. Lag Sameach!Click here to watch live footage from Meron
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