Eight Nights of Hanukkah Crafts
Hanukkah, or as my middle child calls it, “Da nights when we eat the donuts,” isn’t the biggest Jewish holiday...
Author: Anna Keller
Anna is a writer and teacher who lives in Brooklyn with her family.
The Insanity of Packing My Daughter’s Perfect Jewish Mexican Lunch
I learned the word for bread in English first. The soft syllable already begging for butter,...
As Our World Implodes, I Bake Challah
Last week I had 6 dollars and 97 cents in my checking account.
And I’m not so worried. To me, money isn’t...
Our Hanukkah Fight Wasn’t Really About What We Teach Our Kids
I took a seat at my computer while the girls were doing crafts in the kitchen and the baby was toddling around...
Hanukkah, Parenting, Parenting Hanukkah, Parenting Stories, Relationship Challenges, Relationships
Christmas Decorations: My Guilty Pleasure
It’s that time of year again when I ask myself as a Jew if I prefer Christmas to Hanukkah. Historically, my...
What The Jewish New Year Looks Like In Brooklyn
While my family passed those first few lonely months in quarantine together in Brooklyn, the pandemic’s...
High Holy Days, High Holy Days for Parents, Parenting, Parenting Stories
Quarantined in Brooklyn, Surrounded by Faith
I dress for Whole Foods like
someone dressing for war, or like someone with an acute fear of dying. Maybe
I’m...
My Alter Ego Carried My Baby
My alter ego’s name is Phyllis. Not as provocative as Sasha Fierce or as precocious as Beyoncé’s new sidekick,...
My Daughter’s Best Friend is the Best Gift
I grew up 1.6 miles away from my Grandma Rosie in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. We lived in Midwood, and...
Grandparents, High Holy Days for Parents, Parenting, Parenting Stories
The Cure for My Pregnancy Anxiety
I find myself awake at 3 a.m. in the throws of an anxiety attack. It’s no secret that I’ve been a bit of a basket...
Truth: Motherhood is Lonely
When Helen was born, she was the first and I feared I would never leave the house again. I remember Adrian leaving...
Babies, High Holy Days for Parents, Parenting, Parenting Challenges, Parenting Stories
I Started Doing Shabbat and I Can’t Stop
My apartment has become a secret cave of imagination. Sometimes it is the park where Peppa Pig plays with her...
How Will We Answer Their More-Than-Four Questions?
Passover used to be my favorite holiday. I suppose it still is although, now that I have an interfaith family,...
I Want My Kids to Feel “Jewish Enough”
How did this happen? How did almost three-and-a-half years go by? Wasn’t I just in the delivery room waiting...
Motherhood: Am I Doing it Right?
I’m not sure how I’m doing as a mother. I mean, all self-criticism aside, I’m trying to take a step back, have...
How Will Our Kids Understand the Past?
In the fifth grade, after I got thrown out of Yeshiva (a Jewish school), I went to a private school in Brooklyn...
Holocaust, Parenting, Parenting Stories, Religious Education
What Does My Jewish Community Say About Women?
What does my Jewish community say about women? I can’t remember. For all of my time in Yeshiva, all of my holidays...
High Holy Days for Parents, Parenting Stories, Simchat Torah, Yom Kippur
Why We’ll Be the Family in Midwood Without a Sukkah
I think my family never celebrated Sukkot (the Jewish harvest festival that comes after Yom Kippur) because...
This Yom Kippur, I’m Hanging on to My Sins
It’s been a long year. It seems that every year I approach Yom Kippur saying these words. And it’s always true....
High Holy Days, High Holy Days for Parents, Motherhood, Parenting Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Young Kids
How I Ended Up as a Brooklyn Tour Guide for a Day
On August 3 my Uncle Jeff, my father’s brother, turned 90 years old. I received a call from my cousin...
How to Be a Kosher Vegan in an Interfaith Family
Almost two months ago I became a vegan. It’s a long story. I saw some crazy movies about meat and dairy, I...
Is it Time to Leave Our Orthodox Neighborhood?
My neighborhood of Midwood, Brooklyn, is changing and so is my family. It’s not just that new stores have popped...
When Faith Reaches the Border
There is a photo taken by photojournalist John Moore going around the internet of a child watching her mother...
Anti Semitism, Holocaust, Motherhood, News, Parenting Stories, Young Kids
Why Do I Worry My Daughter Won’t Fit In?
I was never a princess. In my favorite childhood photo I have short brown hair and a leather jacket covered...
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