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Wendy Mogel

Wendy Mogel

Fry the latkes, try the gingerbread

The received wisdom for Jewish parents is not to dilute, pollute or mix traditions. Christmas is such a joy bully, if you let any of it in the door, Chanukah will be blown out the window. But just as Republicans don\’t own family values, Christians haven\’t appropriated winter gladness and glitter.

Mom: Resist

When stuck with a rebellious child, gluttonous and thieving, the Torah has a tidy solution: Kill him. Or her.

A Child’s Murder, a Mother’s Strength

\”The Blessing of a Broken Heart\” gives the struggle a precious face and, at the same time, illustrates the power of Jewish faith, ritual and community to heal.

ADD, ADHD — Life in the Fast Lane

Two forces in our culture are at odds here — the desire to respectfully accommodate differences, and the ease with which we claim victimhood for ourselves and for our children.

Is There Love After Marriage?

Forty days before a child is born, a voice from heaven announces: \”The daughter of this person is destined for [so-and-so].\” —
Babylonian Talmud, Sotah

Sex Ed for Parents

Somewhere in America, a few high school students made a porno video, \”by accident\” they said, starring themselves. Whatever it was, a couple of kids were fooling around, and someone else had a camera. They showed the tape in the locker room and what followed was, of course, a big scandal. Somewhere else in America, there was an eighth-grade party, mom or dad took pictures, and when the photos came back from the lab, you could see two partygoers having oral sex near the shrubbery in the background of one of the shots. What upset the parents most was that the students weren\’t even trying to hide.

Slaves to Higher Learning

Here\’s a thought for Passover: We are Pharaohs to our children. We have made them our slaves. Their mud bricks are the books that fill 30-pound backpacks. Their mortar is four hours of homework every night. The straw we deny is sleep. Ask child therapists across the country about the headaches and self-starvation, and the girls who make shallow cuts in their wrists to \”let the pressure out, to feel on the outside the pain I feel on the inside.\” Ask the school counselors about how teenagers use drugs and sex to try to escape. Ask the pediatricians and chiropractors about what those 30-pound loads have done to the children\’s posture. Ask the college admissions office about their nicknames for incoming students: \”crispies,\” the 18-year-olds too fried from high school to function at college, and \”teacups,\” freshmen too fragile to manage on their own without their parents, tutors and housekeepers.

Mezuzah Mouse

The beginning of the new school year radically increases the frequency of beeps, clicks, buzzes, rings and stutter dials in my home. My stack of unreturned phone calls is beginning to teeter. Reflecting on these mixed blessings, I am reminded of an incident from way back in the pre-history of July.

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