GENERAL MUSINGS:

If The Pilgrims Had Been Jewish (and tolerant of sea sickness)

Can America’s ‘Garbage’ Help the Democratic Party Clean Up Its Act?

The Toddler Who Uplifted Jews Worldwide (dedicated to Michael Levi, z”l)

Total Recall (not the cucumbers!)

Am I Living in Gotham City or Los Angeles? (Homelessness Part I)

Shelter vs Safety: LA’s Homelessness Crisis— Part 2

For All the Girls Who Could Only Afford One Barbie (But Enjoyed the Heck Out of It)

Why Teens Should Experience the Joy of a Lousy Summer Job (and why I’m uncomfortable around milk steamers)

The Day My Heart Broke in Los Angeles (reflections on witnessing the 1992 LA riots/uprising as a child)

Who Will Hug Me When I’m Old? (on the imperative of touch in old age)

Loneliness is a Disease, and Judaism Has a Cure (Americans have a unique problem with loneliness)

The One Kosher Restaurant LA Needs, But Doesn’t Have (and it’s not a burger joint)

An Ode to ‘Mommy Camp’ (mothers deserve a case of wine and a massage

The Worst Words an Educated Woman Can Say (and I said them)

The Burden of Freedom (reflections about her father’s poignant words)

The Hardest Word in the World (and why Judaism obligates us to accept heartfelt apologies)

“Mrs. Maisel” is Making Me Marvelous (one less sweatpant at a time)

The Day Diana Died (reflections on the 25th anniversary of a moment in time)

Our Birthday Parties in Tehran Didn’t Include Goodie Bags (among other things)

A Day in Jewish Los Angeles (you want me to pay $17.99 for what?!)

How to Survive the Effects of Daylight Savings on Shabbat (and why so much falls on the shoulders of women)

Los Angeles Needs Batman…And Another District Attorney (Or Batman as DA)

Am I Being Paranoid or Just Really Cautious? (why I carry fake purses in Los Angeles)

Five Food-Related Habits That Are Not That Great for Jews (who wants melted plastic with their cholent?)

What Betty White, Sidney Poitier and Bob Saget Taught Me About America (and about myself)

Is L.A. Loveable or Leavable? (a legitimate question in 2022)

In 2022, the Jewish People Need a National Resolution (it’s about time)

Five Classes That Should Be Offered in School, But Aren’t (including “Know Your Dictators”)

Los Angeles Needs Safe Spaces for Jewish Foster Children (immediately)

Want Moshiach? Have More Women at the Table (and at the lectern)

Why Don’t More People Know About the Atrocities in Myanmar? (the devastation of handpicking causes)

The Fear of Saying, and Not Saying, Certain Words (I’m tired)

Are We Ready to Talk About Slavery in the Middle East? (a critical perspective)

Is It Normal to Feel Anxious Over the Life of a Foreign Leader? (Yes, if that leader is Zelensky)

Cellphone ‘Sins’ (an exercise in humility and remorse regarding cell phone overuse)

My Rock and Redeemer (Tabby’s grateful love letter to her father, who brought her out of Iran)

The Alchemist (and why we all need negative thoughts)

What Do Pearl Harbor, the Fall of Communism, and 9/11 All Have in Common? (and which one gets puts on the back burner?)

No One Can Pack a Suitcase Faster than This Refugee (no matter what the election outcome)

Will We Have to Cancel All Teenagers? (fearing being cancelled more than death)

From War to Wedding Day (how two children of the Iran-Iraq War met thirty years later)

Did Simone Biles Do Us All a Favor? (the time I got into an argument with my mother over the ‘96 Olympics)

Where the Light Enters (reflections on moving forward in the face of unbearable loss)

Fighting to Remove Women’s Oppression in Iran (who is behind the largest civil disobedience campaign in the history of post-revolutionary Iran?)

Lara Kollab and the Disease of Anti-Semitism (the time a medical intern flippantly vowed to give ‘Yahoods the wrong meds’)

How Not to Give When Giving to Others (when giving is really a form of crossing boundaries)

Give Thanks That You’re Not in Iran (humbling reflections on the Nov. 2019 mass protests in Iran)

The Female Hamas Terrorist Living Large in Jordan (and how she evaded justice for decades)

Can 2020 Still Be Redeemed? (there’s always hope)