New kitten lying on side

I have been out of touch. Sorry. Updating the site feels a little frivolous right now. Also on a personal note my job at Tablet has expanded and I’m still learning the new design and content management system. And also also: NEW KITTEN!

I SAID NEW KITTEN!

Look again upon my NEW KITTEN!

New kitten stretched out

Anyway, here are some things I wrote for Tablet recently: 

The Ethics of Takeout, about what Jewish law has to say about the balancing acts demanded by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Best Jewish(ish) Books about Summer Camp. Ah, camp. Plus a couple of suggestions for grownups. If I were to add another, I’d suggest Sarah Wendell’s Hanukkah novella Lighting the Flames, which I wrote about in Tablet a few years ago, about two friends who met at Jewish camp when they were seven and stayed friends every summer until they were both counselors, and then meet again to run a winter fundraiser for the camp. And there is Hanukkah-time hotness! What a delight to read a winter love story when it’s sweltering, and to read something in the romance genre in which both characters are happily, comfortably Jewish! And if you, like me, are totally unable to focus, it’s a novella. You don’t have to focus for long. 

How to Talk to Your Kids about Police Brutality, from a white Jewish perspective. 

Suggestions on how to run your own Jewish summer camp from home, which is not like the other articles on providing summer camp experience at home in that it is a joke. 

A call to cancel Mother’s Day (2020 did not feel like the right time, not when most of us can’t see our moms in person and friends are losing their moms unnecessarily to this terrible disease, and also did you know that Ann Reeves Jarvis, the original person being feted by her daughter was a freaking public health badass? so maybe it is a good time to celebrate after all, but too late now). 

Also I talked to NYT columnist (and friend) Paula Span about the best children’s books about death. And my pal Susan and I are working on redesigning the SorryWatch site and um, writing our book. 

2 Comments

  1. tanita♥ June 30, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    Congratulations on your expanded job! Woot! That’s certainly good news these days. …And yeah, having not seen my own mother since March, I’m agreeing with you – I hate Mother’s Day AND Father’s Day, but this year, I’m zipping my lip.
    (Also I LOVED Lighting The Flames – it was delightful.)

    As always, lovely to check in with you. ♥

  2. Ellen Grady August 24, 2020 at 10:06 am

    Marjorie,

    I am the Treasurer at the temple you refer to in your Mar 8 2010 article “Welcome Home?” – Beth Sholom Temple in Fredericksburg, VA. I was fascinated to hear that your husband’s grandfather had been at our temple! I would love to follow up on your story. Please email me at treasurer@bstva.org or call me at 703-975-1503.

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