Growing up, I was always taught that rabbis were an exalted lot. These were holy men—there weren’t any women rabbis at the time—who seemed above and different from the rest of us. Bigger than life, they were learned and authoritative with a special...
If there was one thing I could change about my face, I'd get rid of the frown lines between my eyebrows. I know I'm not alone in this targeted hostility towards those lines. In fact, one of my colleagues who's young enough to be my daughter and has beautiful,...
By Gail Appleson, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published June 22, 2011
Jay O'Brien, who had been a soloist for Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel the last two years, gave a farewell pre-Shabbat service concert earlier this month before leaving for cantorial school in Israel. There was nothing particularly "Jewish" about his choice...
As Passover approaches, thoughts of singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman flood my mind.Of course, I will always remember Friedman, who died early this year, for her monumental healing prayer "Mi Shebeirach" and other songs that touched a multitude of people...
I enjoyed reading the personal stories of multi-cultural weddings in the Light's Oy! Magazine (included in subscribers' Feb. 23 edition). My husband and I also had a multi-cultural wedding, as he is Yemenite (like Galia Movitz) and I am Ashkenazi American...
On the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square when she was separated from her team in the crush of the mob. She was then sexually attacked and brutally...
When a friend used a Facebook posting to announce that her father had died, I have to admit that I was a bit startled.It wasn't that his death was unexpected. In fact, he'd been ill for some time and was receiving hospice care. It was the way I learned...
January 1, 2011 marked the final Shabbat in our “Year (Or More) of Shabbats” odyssey. While expressing my feelings through my writing has always come fairly easy I now find it hard to put to paper exactly how much this experience has changed our...
Every year more than five million people visit the Grand Canyon. Only one percent make it to the bottom. Last week, Steve and I became members of this elusive club.The view from the edge of the Grand Canyon is breathtaking. To climb down (and out) on...
Every one of my friends who read Kathryn Stockett's "The Help" told me it was impossible to put the book down. Not only was it a wonderful read, but they said I would find it especially compelling because it's about African American maids working...
By Gail Appleson, Special to the Light
• Published September 1, 2010
A non-Jewish friend recently attended her first bar mitzvah and told me how impressed she was with the young man's performance. She wondered if there was a similar ceremony for girls and if I had celebrated one at that age. Yes to both, I said. "Was it...
In the days leading up to the end of Classic99, KFUO radio, I found myself growing increasingly desperate to find a gathering of like-minded folks who wanted to commemorate the station. My behavior was starting to scare me since I normally do everything...
