1.The Holiday(s)

I'm not the biggest "Hallmark holidays" fan, but with two falling within days of each other this year (and often celebrated with tequila) even I can muster some enthusiasm. Happy Cinco de Mayo to you and yours today! May the tacos be plentiful. And Happy Mother's Day this Sunday. Wishing the mothers in our readership a relaxing day and time spent with loved ones

You are likely to recognize someone you know in the "5 Times You Realize You've Turned Into Your Jewish Mother" video below and perhaps even (heavens, no) yourself?

Fun stuff (I hope).

2.Mothers and Daughters

"That outcry is being felt today, as the leaked Supreme Court opinion resonates across the country. It remains to be seen whether the final decision matches the draft; the court generally releases most of its rulings each year in June.

"But we know that legal analysts are already envisioning a Jewish woman as the perfect plaintiff for a case challenging a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. We know that the National Council of Jewish Women is planning a rally in Washington, D.C., on May 17 and that Jewish reproductive-rights advocates are planning for a post-Roe world. And we know that for Orthodox groups, the balancing act between backing Republicans and defending Jewish law and the right to follow it just got harder."

For more on the news in a Jewish light, read JTA's article with many good links within: "What do Jews say about abortion? Your primer as the Supreme Court weighs overturning Roe v. Wade"

3.A Great American Story

Turns out the only American residence designated a UNESCO World Heritage site was preserved by a Jewish family for decades. If you have visited Monticello you may already know about "The Jews Who Saved Thomas Jefferson's Monticello." I did not.

Below is a trailer for the 70-minute documentary released this year. The Levys of Monticello won the AJC Building Bridges Jury Prize at the 2022 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. This award is given to honor the film which best fosters understanding among communities of diverse religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. 

4.Baby No More

Jennifer Grey knows you care about her nose. Do I? Not especially. This Forward article comes at a time when the actress is promoting her memoir in which she dishes on her fateful surgery and Jewish identity.

“ 'In the world’s eyes, I was no longer me,' Grey recounts, cycling through the shame of people’s misunderstandings that she was running from her heritage or foolishly, vainly, making a mid-career mistake, right when audiences were getting accustomed to her face.

"You may not know that Grey (whose father, Joel, changed his name from Katz, the last name of his klezmer parodist father, Mickey) was partaking in a family tradition when she did her nose. On her father’s side it was a third-generation alteration and a second on her mother’s. While Grey thought that she was living in a more enlightened moment, she frames her ultimate choice as a practical one."

Brings to mind that old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

5.In the Kitchen With Mom

"The Nosher is in many ways a trove of family recipes, innovated, twisted and reimagined from one generation to the next. It’s the next best thing to having those original recipe cards in hand–annotated with splotches of soup and oil, and extra steps crammed into the margins, so you know it’s good.

"With Mother’s Day around the corner, we thought it would be great fun to look at recipes that come from mothers and grandmothers. The result: a menu as eclectic as our writers, with flavors from New York, Russia, Hungary, and Cuba."

Check out "12 Beloved Jewish Recipes From - Who Else? - Mom" with three pictured below.

Sunday, June 12, 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Bristol Holocaust and Genocide Center presents a screening of The Last Klezmer by documentarian Yale Strom, who will introduce and discuss the film followed by a Klezmer concert by his group. Open to the public. Jackson Arts Building, Bristol Community College

Wednesday, June 29, 7:00 PM

Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford