Last night, I had the honor of being one of the speakers at a very special Tu B’Shvat seder dinner at Urban Adamah, a Jewish urban farm in Berkeley. I had the task of speaking about barley, one of the seven sacred Biblical species. As I dove into researching this humble grain, I learned that it has many lessons to teach us.
Read MoreLast month, I was lucky enough to be part of a panel and marketplace called “Navigating Our Hxistories: An Evening of Multi-Disiplinary Storytelling” in San Francisco’s Presidio. We wanted to create a space for people just like us, where for one of the first times, we could celebrate together and start to establish a sense of pride for who we are and how far we’ve come, thanks to the tireless work of all who came before us…
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, my Mom would always remind me that “objects have feelings, too, so we must treat them with great care.” As I’ve gotten older and built my own home, I am finally beginning to understand what she meant. Even the smallest, inanimate objects in our home contain special energy and that’s why a family heirloom passed down through the generations can be such a powerful and treasured object. That’s why I am beyond excited to share with you a collection of my favorite objects!
Read MoreFrom my conversion to our Japanese and Jewish wedding to my bat mitzvah at 33, I’ve been fortunate to have celebrated many happy lifecycle events in a few short years. While my life has only seemed to get fuller and go by faster in the last couple of years, I’ve found that there are fewer lifecycle events and therefore seemingly fewer rituals to write about here post-wedding…
Read MoreWhen I was growing up as a Japanese-American-Californian, matcha was not as popular as it is today. But when I stopped drinking coffee a few years ago, a matcha craze was beginning to brew. I rediscovered matcha (like many of you) in the form of matcha lattes…
Read MoreWhen InterfaithFamily reached out to me about writing a post for Tu B’Av, I have to admit, I had to do some research: Tu B’Av is not widely celebrated in my Reform Jewish community in San Francisco.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, I looked forward to a festival at my Japanese school and local Japanese American Buddhist Church, called Obon. Very simply put, Obon is like the Japanese version of Dia de los Muertos. It’s a time when we celebrate and honor the spirit of our ancestors through dance.
Read MoreManzanar was one of many prison camps that the American government sent Japanese-Americans to during World War II, in the name of national security. I recently visited the site- here are photos and reflections of hope from the 49th annual pilgrimage.
Read MoreOn Saturday, March 10th, 2018, in front of my family and community, I became a bat mitzvah at 33. The service was held in the main sanctuary of oursynagogue, and I stood in the exact spot where my husband and I were married a year and a half before. The rabbi who married us and led me through my Jewish conversion sat in the front row, as I delivered my D’var Torah (word of Torah or sermon). Besides our wedding day, never have I felt so enveloped in love by my entire community.
Read MoreLast Friday, on the first night of Passover, 92 people packed into the historic dining room of the Hotel Majestic in San Francisco. Speakers and attendees from diverse backgrounds sat together to experience a very special Passover Seder (ritual meal)
Read MoreLast year, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Code Switch (a podcast about race and identity), when I heard an episode that triggered something powerful in me.
Read MoreTraditional cultures around the world have rituals around death and dying to help people heal. Over the years, many of those rituals got lost on their way to us.
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