I see an acquaintance in the street, a person I’ve met once before. They and Anja have known each other in passing for decades. “Here’s Zinzy”, they say to their partner, “I met her at the thing.” The thing was a premiere for a documentary about a Dutch 70s solidarity movement of Jews who helped Soviet Jews escape a life of exclusion and discrimination. I had been at the thing with Anja and my delightful mother-in-law, who likes to recount the time she went to Russia to save the Jews from the Soviets. (Continue)

Today might be the day I finally bake a challah for shabbos again.

If you ever happen to find yourself in the sleepy fishing town of IJmuiden: the fish, service, atmosphere, and cheesecake in the fish restaurant De Meerplaats are all very pleasant. For my birthday, Erica Bouma gave me Jesus by rebel theologian Hans Küng. It’s a great and easy read — a recommendation for anybody interested in the history of Christianity. The Son and the Stranger is a beautiful Dutch-language documentary about Daan, a man who, after studying Hebrew in university, converted to the ultra orthodox Jewish faith. (Continue)