How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household

Permissible foods may be prepared only in utensils that are themselves kosher; in other words, utensils that are used exclusively to cook or serve kosher foods.

Memory is protest, memory is activism, memory is the incredible power to turn grief and destruction into hope. Not to remember, not to relive, not to retell, not to mourn, not to feel pain, is to be finally and ultimately defeated—and not the other way around.

Dayenu, the ancient seder hymn Jews have sung for centuries on Pesach, proclaiming that this act of God’s goodness or that one would have been sufficient.

Prayer adds routine and organization to life; it is also orientation away from everyday life, a momentary stepping out of time and of motion.

While I am appreciative of industrial society and am abundantly and irreversibly indebted to feminism, I cannot help but feel that the emphasis away from childbearing has gone too far.

Islands of time do not appear on their own, nor merely as a result of imagination. There is a great deal of planning and preparation that goes into creating an island of time.

An unspoken but underlying assumption of all this is that individual needs will at times be subordinate to the claims of family and community.

How wise the Rabbis were: law on restricted greeting is really the law against rejoicing. Instead of a global, “You shall not rejoice,” which would be incomprehensible, they said, “You shall not do this little thing or make that small gesture.” I never knew how much pleasure there is in greeting a friend until the Rabbis forbade it on Tisha B’Av.

Love comes naturally, but respect must be taught. Orthodox Jews take the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents with great seriousness.