Monday, March 18, 2024 -
Print Edition
Avatar photo
Amy Lederman

IJN Columnist | Reflections

Repentance is optimistic

The High Holidays are around the corner and it’s hard to believe that we are once again facing decisions on how, where and with whom to spend them. With the […]

‘Let the heavens rejoice . . . ’

Last month, I hiked through fields of flowers in Montana, framed by a backdrop of the snow-covered Bridger Mountains. Several weeks later I rented a car in Portland and...

Stories of our lives

My father passed away almost three years ago — just a few months shy of his 100th birthday. As goal-oriented as he was, I am certain it bothered him that […]

Frail body, amazing mind

Spring has sprung and along with the warmer temps and new sprigs of green, comes the blossom of hope. For more than a year, COVID has limited our life choices;

Purim and Passover: a tale of two tables

The experience of celebrating Jewish holidays has been dramatically altered since the onset of the pandemic over a year ago. From solitary Passover seders to attending...

Relationships are the essence of Judaism

Human beings are born into relationship. It is our natural way of being — a state of need coupled with desire — without which we languish physically, mentally,...

Uprooting the planted

If you had told me a year ago that I would change my life by selling my Tucson home to be closer to my mom in New Jersey, or that […]

How COVID has changed our Jewish outlook

The Jewish High Holidays and Sukkot have come and gone this year, unlike any other, and posed new challenges for all of us because of COVID. Yet, COVID also offered...

Sukkot teaches us to live with uncertainty

The Jewish New Year of 5781 began with a serious COVID challenge: How can we, as Jews, celebrate our traditions and participate in holiday services during a pandemic,...

A meaningful Rosh Hashanah amid COVID

Sept. 18, 2020 heralds the first night of Rosh Hashanah and the advent of the Jewish year 5781. But accompanying the traditional apples and honey this year is an...