This post is part of our month-long series featuring different ways that parents of various religions have talked to their kids about God.

“I want to try bacon,” my 7-year-old son Zack declared the other night.

“Well, bacon, like, really isn’t kosher,” I said tentatively, always careful of giving him the kind of “because Hashem said so” answer my Yeshiva-educated husband learned to resent early on.

“I don’t care,” he reassured me. “So can I try it?” Read more →

All the Jewish celebrity parent gossip you (n)ever wanted to know.

- In a recent interview, Rachel Zoe opened up about the fact that she and her husband Roger Berman are “not above” things like diaper duty and dinner and bathtime. So, you know, being a parent. (SheKnows)

- Sarah Michelle Gellar has said her best advice for balancing parenthood and your career is to “trust your instincts.” Her instincts have led her to a starring role in a new TV show with Robin Williams. (Us Weekly)

- Jamie-Lynn Sigler is in her “honeymoon stage” of pregnancy, which means she’s still mobile and can wear heals, though not for long. Also, her breasts have tripled in size and she’s going with navy blue for her son’s nursery. The more you know. (People)

- Looking for the latest trend in preschooler fashion? Who else to turn to but Sarah Jessica Parker’s twin girls Tabitha and Loretta, whose pom-pom headbands and beaded necklaces have officially been deemed “Mini Must-Haves.” (People)

What Makes a Baby, a picture book “about where babies come from,” is written and illustrated in a way that is sensitive to children and parents who found one another via the traditional route (i.e. sex!), or those families which came to be via reproductive technologies, surrogacy, or adoption. The pictures and language are gender neutral and the message is one of inclusivity and openness.

I got a chance to catch up with author Cory Silverberg, who is also a sexuality educator, over email recently, and asked him a few of our–ahem–burning questions.

OK. So what, exactly, does your work as a sexuality educator entail?

I write about sexuality each week for About.com. Part of my time is spent teaching and leading workshops, mostly for professionals and sometimes for regular people who want to know more about some aspect of their sexuality. Read more →

I’ve been an uncle officially for 17 years, since my sister had her first son. Since then, three more nieces and nephews have popped out, giving me at least four reasons to bring gifts from Israel.

As more and more of my friends have had kids over the years (and there have been at least a few of those years, with my somewhat impending arrival to the age which rhymes with “sporty”), an increasing number of children have called me “Uncle Benji” despite a lack of blood relation. I have perfected animal impressions (which includes my personal and undisputed favorite, “the chicken”), I have become quite good at “online babysitting” (entertaining little kids with an Ernie puppet), and I am not ashamed to admit that I have developed such entertaining material that I have been caught recycling it across families in both English and (albeit, broken) Hebrew.

But I have never actually been a father. Until last week. Read more →

This post is part of our month-long series featuring different ways that parents of various religions have talked to their kids about God.

I live with a little theologian. My eldest daughter has had a lot to say about God for as long as I can remember. The expected questions have come along about creation and death, and they become more complex and challenging as she gets older. What has not changed is that she has consistently referred to God using female pronouns. Until recently, she never asked directly about whether God is male or female. It has been consistent that God is She. “Why did God make dogs and cats Momma? Does She like them both the best?” Read more →

In the field of social work we use fancy phrases like “caregiver fatigue,” “compassion fatigue,” “secondary traumatic stress,” and “vicarious traumatization.”

They all mean somewhat different things, but they’re all pointing to the same phenomenon: the ways in which doctors, EMTS, social workers, nurses, and increasingly, teachers–anyone who tends to the wounded and traumatized on a regular basis–can, and do, get exhausted and burnt out. They may become depressed or angry, they may turn to alcohol or drugs to manage difficult feelings, and they may have a hard time with sleep, focus, and ability to attend to daily tasks, among other things. Read more →

This post is part of our month-long series featuring different ways that parents of various religions have talked to their kids about God.

As a scientist and a person of faith, I get asked the following question a lot: “How do you reconcile your scientific beliefs with your faith in God?” The question seems to concern others a lot more than it concerns me, largely because I see no conflict at all. They exist together, happily, and each supports the other. Read more →

Last week, Angelina Jolie disclosed that she had a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carries a gene that sharply increases her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. I absolutely applaud her decision to share her experience, as I am a strong believer in the power of telling our stories, both for others and for ourselves.

And then I tried to stop thinking about it, or anything else related to the C word or the inevitable D word. But I couldn’t. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I am at an increased risk for breast or ovarian cancer as I am both of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and my paternal aunt died of breast cancer when she was just 45 years old. I finally decided I needed to learn more. I called my aunt, Dr. Elizabeth Naumburg. She’s a Professor of Family Medicine and an Associate Dean for Advising at the University of Rochester Medical School, and she sees patients just like me on a regular basis–women who might have questions about their own risk for breast cancer, and what they should do about it. Read more →

When your hottest social engagement is taking your toddler and baby to Tasti D-Lite and then proceeding to read four different Curious George books at bedtime, you may have fallen into a bit of a rut. I know I have.

First, a disclaimer: I love my kids, Tasti D-Lite, and Curious George (and in that exact order), and I am more than happy to spend any free time I have in things that involve all of those elements. And my dismay at falling into a rut feels a bit disingenuous when my husband constantly implores me to institute some sort of official date night, or when he supports my much-coveted “me time” by doing more than his share. Read more →

This week’s parenting news you probably didn’t have time to read.

- Turns out every human has about 100 trillion bacteria living (and dying) on our skin and inside our bodies at all times. And that families living in the same house share many of the same bacteria, especially those with dogs who spread them around via licking. (NYT)

- An alum of the Hebrew Union College wrote an open letter urging them to reconsider their stance on not admitting prospective rabbinical students who are married, engaged, or in a relationship with a person who is not Jewish. (Forward)

- The United States lags behind almost all other industrialized countries in providing the goods, services, and incentives that make it possible for women and men to be caregivers as well as breadwinners. Anne-Marie Slaughter shares some strategies that could help. (Atlantic)

- What is up with America’s creepy fascination with pregnant celebrities? While it’s great that famous women no longer feel they need to hide for 9 months while they’re pregnant, the media’s scrutiny of their weight and obsession with their “bumps” is totally weird, and only getting worse. (Double X)

- Amy Blumenfeld was always honest with her daughter about how she was born, via gestational surrogacy. So it’s no surprise that her daughter has now taken it upon herself to tell her friends and schoolmates that there’s more than one way for a baby to be born. (Huffington Post)