Is there such a thing as a criminal DNA? A worried woman looks back at her own history and relates it to that of early Lower East Side New York Jews who “grew up to be either Joseph Bloomingdale or Meyer Lansky.” She worries because her father had been arrested for fencing stolen goods and late...

A 36-year-old expectant mother doubts whether she is ready to become a mother, since her real dream had been to “become the next Lucille Ball.” She goes on to experience severe trauma when a fibroid attached to her bowel ruptures 30 weeks into her pregnancy. What follows is a terrifying and nai...

The son of a Chinese father and secular Jewish mother embarks on a Birthright Israel trip, designed to introduce young American adults to Israel. Not at all religious, he is skeptical about whether he will be “wowed” by a visit to the Wailing Wall, as his guides promise. On the way to place his...

Sibling rivalry is as old as the Bible. For this family, it starts on the third night of Hanukkah when Ellen lights the menorah with her kid brother, Harvey. Both amusing and tragic, the event has repercussions that last a lifetime.

Performed by Ellen Switkes
Produced by The Braid/Jewish W...

Dr. Ron Wolfson, author and educator, looks back lovingly on his bubbe’s culinary skills, which filled him with ecstasy. As a boy, his huge appetite sent him right to the “husky” section of his local department store. As an adult he explores the history of Jewish face-stuffing and finds its or...

After her mother dies, a woman discovers one of Mom’s famous honey cakes is still in her freezer. She waits for a special day to chop it out of its “ice cave.” When she finally tastes it, she remembers not only her beloved mother but the beautiful and meaningful life lessons she imparted.

Pe...

The daughter of a Cuban Catholic father and a Jewish mother who converted to Catholicism through a correspondence course, Maria travels through life loved by both her mother, who gives her pink rosary beads, and her Russian Jewish grandmother, who feeds her potato latkes. After her parents’ divo...

On Thanksgiving Day, a Persian Jew honors her mother, called Bibi by her children. Raised in the Muslim holy city of Mashhad, Bibi had to pretend to be of Muslim faith in honor to survive. As her daughter recalls Bibi’s dangerous and fascinating life story and all the secrets and Thanksgivings ...

Screenwriter David Chiu, the son of a Chinese immigrant and a Lithuanian Jewish mother, encounters unexpected racism at a Hollywood pitch meeting when a powerful man tells a joke about a Chinese restaurant using a racist accent. As David debates what to do, he makes a decision that both haunts h...

Before she leaves for the Peace Corps, a 56-year-old woman begins to get her body in shape for her challenging upcoming assignment in Africa as an agribusiness specialist. She carries heavy gallon jugs of water up and down steep hills to prepare her. But her physical strength is not all she wor...

A woman who discovers she can’t bear children adopts a Russian toddler. As his special needs become apparent, she doubts whether she can successfully meet the challenge of raising a son with severe developmental delays. When the suggestion is made that she should “send him back to Russia,” she ...

A medevac rescue worker arrives at a highway accident scene via helicopter, where she finds two cars “crumpled like tin cans.” Doubting whether anyone in the accident could have survived, she finds a couple in one of the cars who are barely alive and are still holding hands. The following shabb...

The daughter of African-American and Jewish parents, Courtenay wonders if she will ever find a mate, since she is “too black for Ashkenazi Jews and too Jewish for African-Americans.” She has always wanted to follow her father’s commitment as a former foster child and adopt foster children of her...

A school social worker is assigned the task of finding out why eight Russian pupils are always absent from school. To learn the reason, he tries in vain to contact their parents and even drives around the area they live in to see if he can spot them. Once he locates them, he carefully approache...

Albert Kallis is one of the founders of a well-known American eatery. This moving origin story starts with the question, “Could a menu devoted entirely to pancakes from around the world fill a need in 1950s America?” When Al’s friend asks him to invest in this novel, high-risk concept, Al, an a...

Emmy Award–winning writer and star of the Off-Broadway hit Not That Jewish, Monica Piper tells riotous tales of life as the stressed-out single working mother of a teenage son. Overwhelmed by the task of buying an acceptable dress for the Ginsberg bar mitzvah, she flees the mall to arrive at her...

Most Jewish girls grew up fascinated by the aromas, tastes, and secrets of their grandmother’s cooking. When Renee’s cousin asks her to collaborate on a family recipe book, a hunt begins for the culinary secrets they wish to pass on to their next generation. But when Renee asks her grandma to sha...

This story tells of one woman’s hilarious and poignant journey through various “kinds” of Judaism. Raised in a Jewish area of Mexico City but relocated to a nearby suburb, Erika finds her new home has “no Jews, no temple, and no challah.” Her parents enroll their daughters in the only private sch...

The daughter of a South Korean mother and a Jewish father grows up as one of the few school-aged Jews in Tacoma, Washington. On Shabbat, her family substitutes rice for unlocatable challah and kimchi, a Korean cabbage, for the bitter herbs on their Seder plate. Being the daughter of a mixed marri...

A Jewish-American academic writing a book on the Nuremberg trials wins a Fulbright Fellowship and, much to the dismay of her family, decides to spend a year researching and teaching in Heidelberg. Once in Germany, given the topic of her research, she does not broadcast her religion. But on a week...

A female rabbinical student working as a chaplain is called to support a Jewish family whose father has just died. When she enters the hospital room, she is greeted by a sea of long skirts and bearded Jewish men who certainly weren’t expecting a young woman to be with them during this time. Reluc...

Screenwriter and playwright Arlene Sarner is the type who holds grudges, especially against her ex-husband, who embroils her in a five-year custody battle over her two sons. Her husband wins the boys’ affections with his limousines, rock-star friends, and relaxed attitude about homework. Arlene i...

A happily married wife, mother, and grandmother receives a surprise Facebook message from her first love, a boy who mercilessly dumped her in high school in Mexico because she was “a Jew, and she killed God’s only son.” Devastated, she spent the next several years wishing every bad thing in the u...