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This is the fictional story of a song that everyone seems to know, whether or not they want to. To describe this song to you in a sentence would have been enough. But this song isn't known for its subtlety or its brevity. It's known for its repetition, its words that don't quite fit into the tune, it's barely-there-musical-tune reminiscent of the Pac-Man theme, and, of course, its repetition. So here's the previously untold story behind the music. One Passover, before...

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(Author's note: This piece is a 2013 version of "Dating the Seder Way," which appeared in the NY Jewish Week, April 22, 2005. May we all continue to make strides toward personal and relationship redemption.)  Dating the Seder Way Why is this date different from all other dates? On a first date with someone new, that’s what we’re thinking. As we try to make emotional bricks without straw, a good date is the harbinger of a heartfelt hope that we will...

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(Author's Note: This was originally published in the NY Jewish Week in April 2008.) Spring Cleaning  I’ve been cleaning my apartment in increments: a shelf here, a desk drawer there, purge a file folder or four. Part of it was tax-practical, to find my 2007 receipts so I could claim deductions for my freelance lifestyle—part of it was Passover, lurking as it does beyond the hamantashen. But in plumbing the depths of cabinets and drawers, there were unexpected finds. Earrings I...

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(Author's Note: This was originally published in the NY Jewish Week in 2008.) Free to Be... Growing up, I often listened to a work of feminism undercover as children’s album and book — “Free to Be You and Me.” From “Free to Be,” I learned that I could be anything, that parents were people and that “every boy in this land learns to be his own man, and in this land every girl grows to be her own woman.” I learned...