Resolution, Resolution, Resolution! It’s that mid-holiday period when people feel the need to come up with a resolution for the new year. This year they’ll eat healthier, read more books, spend more family time, be savvier with finances, not wear their pajamas in public, shoplift less, stop selling organs on the black market, etc. It’s all a head game. Every day is an opportunity to make a change, but for some reason we like to make an official declaration on January 1. We’re given 365 days to decide what we need to work on and it has to begin after the ball drops. A friend said she was eliminating carbs in 2024. In February she accidentally ate a crouton. The tiny, dried piece of bread sent her into a shame spiral. In despair, she opened a Door Dash account and ordered Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Panera Bread, Dunkin and Crumbl cookies. Her resolution for 2025 is to lose 100 pounds, and once again, cut out carbs. Compounding resolutions is never a good trend. Stick to one thing. By...
I was raised in a Catholic household, so what did I know from Hannukah? In my elementary school brain, it was the Jewish equivalent of Christmas. I didn’t know about holiday traditions evolving over time. For me, the manger in Bethlehem was decked out with a tree, inflatable Santa decorations, live animals, angels on high, the Three Kings, the seven fishes, and a big piñata. There was inclusiveness in 6 BC. Let the choir sing— Away in a Silent Night Christmas Bells are Ringing Feliz Navidad . I grew up learning about the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary, Noah and the Easter Bunny. I also knew the Ten Commandments and that Moses, with his burning bush, traveled to the Planet of the Apes after he led his people out of slavery. As a child, there weren’t Jewish families in my neighborhood. Esther Appelbaum and Sidney Finegold were in my class but they lived across town. While I was schlepping my way to school every day Esther was dropped off by a Linc...