Bintel Brief: Lisa Loeb Says Don’t Call Your Daughter’s Boyfriend a ‘Parasite’
Dear Lisa,
My daughter, a beautiful, brilliant college graduate with a law degree and a good job is about to become engaged to a Chabadnik (who, by the way, has no job except for being what I call a lay “Jew for Moses” with Chabad).
It’s obvious that if she marries this parasite, she will become a second-class citizen and a baby factory, and I’ll never have any contact with my grandchildren, because, while we are proud Jews, we aren’t kosher and obviously don’t keep all the Shabbat commandments. (Don’t tell me I’m wrong. I’ve had other friends whose kids have drunk the Orthodox Kool Aid — this is what happens.)
How do I let her know my feelings? And don’t tell me to keep quiet! Frankly, I’d rather she married a gentile than a borderline Hasidic Jew.
FATHER KNOWS BEST
Lisa Loeb replies:
Wow. I don’t mean to disrespect you as a parent, but as a person, I’d suggest you change your tone. It’ll be tough for your daughter to listen to you at all with that attitude. It’s hard for me to even give advice to you, since it seems like you won’t be satisfied unless you break up this pair.
It sounds like you’re mostly concerned about the fact that he doesn’t have a job. I’d stick to that as the issue, instead of bringing his religious practice into the mix. You raised your daughter, right? You sound pretty committed to your own values, and you probably instilled them in her the best you could. That being said, she probably used the tools you gave her growing up to choose the man she wants to marry.
I agree that it might make things easier if she marries someone who has a profession. But is your daughter still going to practice law? Maybe she can help out with the finances. Good luck to you.
Lisa Loeb is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter whose hit single “Stay (I Missed You)” topped the charts. In 2006, she came out with a compilation album, “The Very Best of Lisa Loeb,” and launched her own E! reality series, “#1 Single,” which followed her as she looked for love. This month, she is revisiting her roots with a double-disc reissue of her 1992 debut, “The Purple Tape,” featuring original acoustic versions of some of her classics. She is performing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” on January 18. She will be doing an in-store performance and signing in New York at the Columbus Circle Borders Books at 7 p.m. on January 22.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
