Neal Schindler

A recent discussion at my shul, Congregation Emanu-El, introduced me to Sue Fishkoff’s essay “My Family Tree is Loaded with Tinsel.” In this short but insightful piece, Fishkoff cracks open a quiet taboo of American Jewish life: what some Jews do at Christmastime.

Most of my friends agreed that the intention behind the use of “Jew” is what matters most. (They also shared the opinion that “jew” as a verb is always pejorative.) A friend who is especially knowledgeable about Judaism made the key distinction between “Jew” as a noun and the same word as an adjective. The latter is plainly offensive.

The Book Parlor, the West Central bookstore operated by Salem Lutheran Church, recently screened the documentary Surviving Progress. The film does not take a markedly theological approach to its subject matter; its first language is science.

The image I most closely associate with the Jewish concept of tzedakah (charity) comes from my childhood. I remember little boxes, emblazoned with the Israeli flag, at my Hebrew school. Each had a small slot for coins on top — a kind of Zionist-looking piggybank.

Back when I lived in Seattle, I wrote for a blog called Jew-ish.com. My editor there, Leyna Krow, moved to Spokane in the fall of 2010 for graduate school. A few months later, she posted a brief essay titled “Feeling way too Jewish in Spokane."