Articles written by Marilyn Shapiro
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A hallmark Chanukah
Even though the pandemic has altered our world, my husband Larry and I will still maintain many of our traditions this Chanukah. Eating potato pancakes with applesauce. Lighting candles each night. “Betting” on which candle lasts the longest....
Holocaust survivor Albert Kitmacher and his five miracles
So much has been written about the Holocaust. But have we really learned from the past? Millions of words later, we are facing a terrifying upswing in anti-Semitism. What can we do? We can keep...
Victoria has a secret during the pandemic
She is NOT wearing an underwire. And so are many other women. Yes, we have expunged our Exquisite Forms, ousted our Olgas and wiped out our Warners. Instead, we have traded our confining, pokey...
Why I am not voting for Donald Trump
This article is in response to “Donald Trump: Social Justice President” (Rabbi Sanford Olshansky, Heritage, Aug. 28, 2020). The High Holy Days will be very different this year for all of us. Rather than meeting fellow congregants in our...
Abbott's chocolate almond ice cream - and don't skimp on the almonds!
How will I celebrate a milestone birthday during the pandemic? That hoped-for week away with my family is out. A party at my home is out. Heck, my husband, Larry, and I can't even head to my favorite...
A bolt out of the blue
When I was six years old, I loved summer storms. As the sky turned dark, the thunder clapped, and the lighting shot across the sky, I would watch from the safety of our living room window. My mother...
I finally 'get it' - I'm sorry I'm late
In 1994, I attended, along with a number of my colleagues from the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center, an Office of Special Programs conference in downstate New York. After the opening night’s dinner, I wandered over to the venders...
My Top Ten list to get through this pandemic
Some day-hopefully in the near future-the COVID-19 pandemic will be behind us. Medical interventions to those infected will alleviate the pain, suffering, and deaths. A vaccine may be developed...
The personal impact of the corona virus
As we tread carefully through the fourth month of the corona virus pandemic, the emotional and physical devastation this plague has caused is felt acutely by so many. As our days of sheltering at home continue, it has become much more real, much mor...
May the coronavirus passover us all
Biblical Irony: Passover seder may be delayed by the plague. Facebook meme One of Judaism’s most important holidays officially begins with the first seder on April 8. Pesach in the time of coronavirus, however, will be very different. During these...
Purim-a time to be drunk on happiness
By Marilyn Shapiro Purim is around the corner, and not far behind are costumes and dancing and Purim shpiels and groggers and hamantashen. And, for some, alcohol. According to the Talmud, it is one's...
Waking up the children... and us!
I do believe we woke up the children. You think the Flower Children of the 1960s were revolutionary? Just wait! Full confession. Outside of wearing bell-bottom pants and trying marijuana once, I was not a flower child. My first vote for a president...
Remembering Mr. Rogers
The murder of eleven Jews while they were observing Shabbat occurred in the heart of Mister Rogers's Neighborhood. The Reverend Fred Rogers and his wife Joanne owned a home and raised their two sons i...
All I want for Chanukah is a new IPhone
According to Adobe Analytics, Cyber Monday 2018 generated over $7.9 billion in sales, with one of the top sellers spent on smart phones. I will be one of those in the market. My iPhone 7, approaching its third year, is losing battery power. And,...
We are thankful to have children living in beautiful places
When my daughter Julie headed out to Colorado in 2003, it was originally planned as a nine-month adventure teaching environmental science. Soon, however, Julie fell in love with the mountains, Colorado, and Sam, not necessarily in that order. They...
A High Holy Day love story
The High Holidays are a special time, but it is even more special when family—and a little romance—are part of the season. In 1951, Larry’s father, Ernie, a World War II veteran, was called back into the U.S. Army. Larry’s mother, Doris,...
Remembering my dad-boats, bugs, bats, and all
Ten years ago this week, my father and I spent our last Father's Day together. My mother and he had moved up to an independent living facility in Upstate New York four miles from me. Two years later,...
On Bonds and birthdays
My husband, Larry, was born the week that the State of Israel was born. For the rest of his life, his birthday celebration would be entwined with the founding of a new country. In 1961, Larry’s entire bar/bat mitzvah class and their families partic...
Being Jewish in Alaska
When Dr. Liz Ross joins her fellow women congregants at Congregation Shalom Aleichem on the bima for the blessing over the candles, she pulls the hood of her kuspuk, her traditional Native Alaskan snow dress, over her head. And on her neck, her gold...
Revisiting the Catskills from the staffs' perspective
In the classic movie "Dirty Dancing," Jack Weston's character Max Kellerman, the owner of the fictional Catskill resort, laments the changes down the road. "[I]t all seems to be ending. You think...
Butterflies surround me
Butterflies. Beautiful butterflies. Blue. Yellow. Even black and white. I am so enthralled by them. But butterflies have a greater meaning to me than just their beauty. In 1993, I read a book called...
Of miracles and gratitude: 'Make new friends but keep the old...'
Two years ago, Peter and Margaret Hunter, friends from England, visited us in our home in Kissimmee, Florida. They brought two bottles of Moet Chandon Brut Champagne, which we tucked away for a...
Cult classic 'Dr. Phibes' may live forever
Horror fans who were in or near Santa Monica, California, on Oct. 26, had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Halloween Double Feature at the Aero Theater. "The Abominable Dr. Phibes," a cult...
Football, food, synagogues and a museum in a whirlwind trip
By Marilyn Shapiro Simchas and celebrations are wonderful, but New Orleans celebrates every day of the year. A city brimming with restaurants, clubs, and street musicians, it was clear to see why The...
Overcoming 'otherness' makes the High Holy days even sweeter
Since the year that we met, my husband, Larry, and I attend Rosh Hashanah services. We hear the shofar, listen to melodies that we only hear on the High Holy Days, and greet our friends with L'Shana...
