I felt a little like a pioneer woman as I planned for Passover 2022. For the first time ever, I was spending the entire holiday outside my own home since I was finally getting to see my daughter and her family who live in northern France. (more…)
There’s a Jewish proverb that says “No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.” You never know what surprises you’ll find when you travel and where your feet will lead you.
My daughters and I spent a few days in Barcelona, Spain at the beginning of April. We planned to see the usual sites: a walk along La Rambla, tour Gaudi’s famed Sagrada Familia… and Park Guehl, the Picasso Museum, a stroll along the Mediterranean.
But it’s the unexpected that sometimes leaves the greatest impression.
Winter is upon us, yet again. Although everyone seems always to be scurrying and hurrying, it’s important to find time to escape our hectic lives.
Unfortunately we can’t always go off to some exotic place. But winter is a fine time to settle into that comfy chair and escape through the magic of reading.
Books will take you anywhere if you let them-even to places that don’t exist. (more…)
The Anne Frank House conveys the narrative that Holland protected its Jews. To quote the fact checker for the New York Times: this requires context.
Conversos settled in Amsterdam during the 16th and 17th centuries. It’s important to note that Holland was not uniformly welcoming as they were not allowed to settle in other towns and it took a while before they were comfortable living openly as Jews. They also did not know much about being Jewish. Rabbis from other countries – Italy, Morocco, Germany – came over to teach them about Judaism. Ashkenazi Jews came to Amsterdam later and during the 18th century this was the larger of the two communities. (more…)
I
t is called the Anne Frank House but it was not actually her home. The buildings housed her father’s company and Anne, together with her family (father Otto, mother Edith, sister Margot) and 4 other people, hid in the top two floors of the back annex above the warehouse for 2 years.
The entire building is empty. No furniture – the Nazis removed everything and Otto Frank did not want other furniture brought in to recreate the space. Only a few personal items have survived – postcards and magazine photos that Ann glued to her bedroom wall, a shopping list, Edith Frank’s siddur. (more…)
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