Wendy Belzberg
By Wendy Belzberg
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Israel News Ethics of Charity Is Far From Black and White
My sister, with whom I have a difficult relationship, works full time for a charity for which I have little respect. She has asked me to donate to her charity a five-night stay in a resort that I own. I donate room stays often, but there is no public-relations upside from her group, and five…
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News Do-gooders Locking Up One Locksmith’s Market
A group of young men in our community have started something called “the Chevra,” the mission of which is to perform good deeds 24 hours a day. It is like Hatzolah, but instead of saving people’s lives, they bail people out. Among the good deeds they perform are unlocking people’s car doors and fixing flat…
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Israel News RSVP — And Keep Your Mouth Shut!
While going over our calendars for the next few weeks recently, my husband informed me that that coming Sunday evening we would be going to a Harvard Hillel dinner and that the Monday of Memorial weekend we are to attend a bat mitzvah. I should add that Labor Day Monday is slated for a family…
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Israel News Treating All Daughters Equally
I am the father of two wonderful daughters: One recently got married, and the other is a single mother with two children. I am in a position to secure a home equity loan at a low rate, and I would like to help buy a house for my single daughter and her children. My concern…
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News Dad: Separate Sections for Parents, Kids
My husband and I are taking our three children to Italy this summer on a family vacation. My husband travels frequently on business and has accrued thousands of frequent flyer miles. He wants to use his miles to upgrade our tickets to first-class while our children fly coach. I am shocked that he could even…
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News Rabbis’ Rules on Rice
Every year as Passover approaches I wonder why there are so many different points of view about what is acceptable to eat over the holiday. This year I’m asking Wendy: Why can’t I eat rice on Passover? — Sorting the chaff An accident of birth — or your ancestors’ birth, to be more precise —…
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News Is a Name Change Identity Fraud?
I never gave serious thought to changing my last name (it’s about as Jewish as you can get) until I realized how pervasive antisemitism has become. I am in my 50s and beyond the age where it might matter, but my daughters are in their early teens and will soon be applying to college and…
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News Culture Clash Begets Funereal Family Drama
Last month when my mother died I followed her wishes for a funeral with a minimum of fuss and religious ritual. I arranged for a graveside service with a Reform rabbi and requested that only immediate family attend. I was aghast when an Orthodox cousin whom I had not seen in 40 years showed up…
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Culture Robert Kraft’s new Super Bowl ad about antisemitism already feels dated
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Culture The Muppets are my rabbi, and they should be yours
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Yiddish „מײַן זינגען אויף ייִדיש האָט גאָרנישט צו טאָן מיט נאָסטאַלגיע““My singing in Yiddish has nothing to do with nostalgia“
חוה אַלבערשטיין האָט לעצטנס אַרויסגעלאָזט איר אויטאָביאָגראַפֿיע, וווּ זי באַשרײַבט די ראָלע פֿון ייִדיש אין איר רעפּערטואַר און אין איר לעבן
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