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Last fall we read in the New York Times an article, “Shabbat is a Salve, and a Scene: Jewish or not, more young people seem to be celebrating the shabbat at gatherings (Nov. 30, 2022).” Those who are non-Jewish are joining in to experience Shabbat as a way to connect with new folks of all religions. It becomes a special time, as the Times article says, to “unplug and connect with family and friends.” It's also the start of a new non-sectarian tradition among young adults. And why not? Sharing holidays and traditions offer a greater sense of inclusiveness, and we’re all for that,...

  We both like to voice our opinions and will do so if we feel it’s justified. However, we allow a lot to slide to avoid confrontation, hurt feelings, stomachs in knots or rising blood pressure. We try to do so with calm and grace.  But….when a steak we ask to have cooked medium rare may have been cooked too well done, we voice our distaste. Worse might be sharing it with a server and having the wait person offer an excuse: “Oh, our chef isn’t feeling so well tonight,” or “We’re sorry but we don’t want to serve undercooked...

We all make mistakes. It’s so easy to do. What’s harder is to admit some of them to others. Here are a few ones to start and what to do: You use the wrong word or tense of a verb in conversation. Let it go! You inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings. Walk in their shoes and apologize promptly without excuses. You make a recipe and accidentally leave out the eggs. It’s mush. Throw it out and have a good laugh. Or, you make a recipe and leave out some butter. Try it; it may not make a difference. You flunk your...

We're back!  Sorry our blog didn't go out last Friday, but we had a website glitch.  We think we are so smart these days as we age. As the saying goes, “With age comes wisdom.” This got us thinking about what we would now tell our younger selves since as aging adults we are able to see through the lens of experience and time with a better focus. Would we eat better? Exercise more? Get married or not? Have children or not? Spend more time with family? Work less? Work more? Move? Stay put? Compromise rather than argue and expend...

We’ve been thinking how different the generations view certain ways of doing things and even some of our peers do as well. We’ve also come to see how life-altering events such as the pandemic have changed what we might do now versus just three years ago.  We came up with our top 10 examples that reflect our practices and how we might tweak what we do to be more proper and kinder. Some of the etiquette of days gone by have become passe.  See if you agree—or not.  Giving occasion gifts. The gift-giving rule of thumb for weddings and other events...