Gun Violence in Orlando
The gun violence-related tragedies this weekend, both in Orlando, have consumed my thoughts this holiday weekend. As Jews all over the world celebrated the Sabbath which led into the festive, joyous...
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Gun Violence, Prayer & Action
Image: “Hannah at Prayer,” by Wilhelm Wachtel (Polish, 1875–1942), via artnet(From the writer & the editor: This essay, written in the days after the UCLA shooting, is about bringing prayer to...
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Nurturing the “WOW” of Parenting
Danya RuttenbergIn this latest GrokNation interview, Mayim Bialik talks with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of Nurture the Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop,...
View ArticleMayim’s Vlog: Science and Religion
“I am a thoughtful person, I am a skeptical person, and I am not a person who believes blindly in anything, so how is it that I believe in God and what does that belief look like?”For many people...
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Pride 2016: Coming Out as More Than LGBTQ
Coming Out as More Than LGBTQ by Aron A. Moe Macarow“Well of course you’re Jewish,” I’ve heard again and again. “Your name is Aron Moshe” — two names that were intentionally chosen because of their...
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Pride 2016: A Mother’s Story
A Mother’s Story by Deborah Engel KollinOn a warm night, three years ago, my then 12-year-old son Yoni would not come into the house after we got home from dinner. Yoni tends to be emotional, so I...
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Pride 2016: Empty Chairs at My Wedding
Empty Chairs at My Wedding by Shay BenjaminI was in my own musical reverie, headphones on, purchasing some dinner ingredients in a neighborhood store, when I happened to look up and glimpse an...
View ArticlePride 2016: A GrokNation Special Section
From the Editor:Stories are words, faces, images, wounds, salves, memories. Stories that we tell about ourselves help other people to see us. And sometimes, those same stories about ourselves can help...
View ArticleSummer Music Playlist, Part 1: “Exuberant”
Summer is a time for so many good things: school’s out, the weather makes being outside possible all the time (at least north of the equator), terrific fruit is in season, and traffic is light where I...
View ArticleSummer Music Playlist, Part 2: “Pensive/Sentimental”
After a year of mourning in which I wasn’t listening to music, I’m thrilled to be able to listen to music again – in my car, in my home and on my treasured summer walks. After sharing my Top 10...
View ArticleMayim’s Modest & Alluring Burkini-Inspired Swim Fashion Show! (VIDEO)
“I hope I’m not making you uncomfortable…”If you’re like us, you’ve been following the “Burkini ban” news – where modestly dressed Muslim women were banned from French beaches for their swimwear; now...
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When Teens Say “I’m Suicidal,” How Do Adults React?
[Image: Erica’s 18th birthday–a birthday she was not entirely sure she’d make it to]For suicide prevention week, we are featuring three personal stories of people whose families were impacted by...
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Beyond the Burkini Ban: Rules to Follow Regarding Women’s Dress
[Photo: At August’s BlogHer conference (#BlogHer16), where Mayim and Zahra filmed a segment about their common desire for modest fashion]As a Muslim woman who not only dresses modestly, but also wears...
View ArticleSuicide Prevention: How You Can Help
I don’t want to write this post. I don’t want to think about Suicide Prevention Day (which is Saturday) or Week (which is this week) or Month (which is September). At all.We are as sick as our secrets,...
View ArticleRepair is Always Possible: Climate Justice and the Days of Awe
This essay is part of American Jewish World Service’s Chag v’Chesed (“Celebration and Compassion”) series. Written by prominent leaders, Chag v’Chesed draws on teachings from the holidays to inform our...
View ArticleClose Encounter of the Jesus Music Kind
[Featured image: a selfie of a stunned Mayim after her unusual shopping experience]There are so many posts I’m not sure if I should write. Usually they center around religion or decisions I’ve made...
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Meeting My Straight Mr. Right at a Gay Soiree
Most people think the holidays are the hardest time to be alone. For me, it’s the High Holy Days. Halloween may be on our US calendar horizon, but Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the ones that haunt...
View ArticleShana Tova! Happy Jewish New Year (Video)
It’s almost Rosh Hashanah, the annual Jewish new year! And to celebrate, in this hilarious video, Mayim and her sons got together with a couple of friends – who happen to be in a famous Jewish a...
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Music for a Soul’s Cycle
I was sweating through my first (and so far, only) visit to the trendy SoulCycle studio in Beverly Hills, where young people gather for what the website calls “joyful fitness.” I was intrigued by the...
View ArticleDear Abba: Another Jewish New Year of “Us Without You”
Dear Abba,Happy New Year. I honestly don’t know if the New Year exists where you are; do I wish you a Happy New Year? Aren’t you in a place beyond time?My New Year has been okay. I mean, we miss you....
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