March began with the observance of Purim. Purim tells the story of Queen Esther saving her fellow Jewish people from a genocidal plot by the King’s evil advisor. Hooray! In modern days, Jewish people in the US celebrate by making Hamantaschen, something we’ve been doing for several years now, and my attending costume parties and […]
Archive for the ‘spirituality’ Category
Flora and family in February
March 10th, 2026 by pleia2
We kicked off February began by observing Tu B’shevat with the synagogue we recently joined, along with getting the boys started in Religious Sunday School. For Tu B’shevat everyone got together to plant a grape vine, which is added to a row of others they’ve planted in previous years. In the weeks since there’s been […]
The search for a deity
January 20th, 2026 by pleia2
I’ve been learning about and observing Jewish traditions for over a decade, but I haven’t converted. When asked about religious affiliation I give a vague “my family is Jewish” and leave it at that. Why? I’m still an atheist. Back in 2012 when this journey was quite new I wrote about this: Joining a synagogue. […]
Bi-coastal Hanukkah 5786 (2025)
January 7th, 2026 by pleia2
Over the winter holiday break, we came out to our townhouse in Philadelphia to spend a bunch of time with family. It just so happened that the timing of our trip meant that we’d celebrate half of Hanukkah in California, and half in Pennsylvania. In some ways this was fun, but as the parent in […]
High Holy Days, sukkot, and visiting family
October 30th, 2025 by pleia2
The pandemic put a wrench in a lot of things, and one of those things for us was finding a new synagogue. When we lived in San Francisco, Sherith Israel was our home, but it’s simply too far away to visit regularly, and our life with kids in the east bay means we have less […]
Autumn activities and Sukkot
October 30th, 2024 by pleia2
Autumn has always been my favorite season. I love pumpkin spice, the cooler weather, and Halloween. There are always a lot of festivals and fun things around, and we always find a handful of Halloween activities to go to with the kids. It’s also a busy time since we also observe the High Holy days […]
Birthday and Rosh Hashanah
October 18th, 2024 by pleia2
On September 29th I turned 43 years old. It was actually kind of a bummer, because the boys and I were dreadfully sick with a cold that included fevers. In the days around it, they missed school and everyone slept poorly. We couldn’t go out to swim class, a movie at the theater with Adam’s […]
Hanukkah 2023 / 5784
December 19th, 2023 by pleia2
Hanukkah this year came together beautifully. A huge part of crafting a successful holiday was that I took a week off from work following Thanksgiving. In addition to all the boring house stuff I did, I was able to prepare for Hanukkah. The first thing of note is that I did more decorating than I […]
Hanukkah 2021
December 6th, 2021 by pleia2
Another Hanukkah with us fully in California. So many years had us splitting Hanukkah between San Francisco and Philadelphia, so it’s still a little unusual for us to spend it all here, with no plans to head back east. On the bright side, my father-in-law and his wife are coming to visit this week, so […]
Seasonal smoke, high holidays, and getting back outside
September 18th, 2021 by pleia2
We were having a delightful summer. Back yard tidied up enough to play outside. Regular cadence of farmer’s market on Saturday morning and playground on Sunday morning. Every weekend we’d also look up local garage/yard sales to walk to. Then the smoke started to roll in on August 18th. Our cars and outdoor furnishings quickly […]