Inside
Jewish House

Lisa D. Grant

The Front Porch . . . . . . . . 2

Rachel Kahn-Troster

TheKitchen ........... 3

Aryeh Cohen

Dining/Room ......... 4

Anonymous

The Medicine Cabinet . . . . 5

Vanessa L. Ochs

Living Room: Shrines . . . . 6

Haviva Ner-David

TheBedroom .......... 7

Nessa Rapoport

Bedside Reading . . . . . . . . 8

Laura Kina

The Refrigerator Door . . . . 9

Eliezer Shore

Night Table Dreams . . . . . 10

Noa Shay

Paintings of Home . . . . . . 11

Linda Stern Zisquit

House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Lawrence Bush

The Closet. . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Benny Ferdman

The Garage: Workshop, Archive, Genizah . . . . . . . 14

Deborah Glanzberg-Krainin Drawings by Judith Margolis

Unhappy Homes . . . . . . . 15

Jan Schwartz

A Place at the Jewish

Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Lisa Colton

Renegotiating

Boundaries ........... 17

Carol Hausman

The Grandparents’ Room . . 18

Stephen Julius Stein

Sh’maEthics. . . . . . . . . . 23

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Jwe’re also alert to the terror of homelessness. Each month this year our back page ews have a deep attachment to home, and

Sigi Ziering Ethics Column has looked at homelessness through a different lens; next year, our ethics pages will examine the many ramifications of kashrut, including issues of eating, and the ethics of producing kosher foods.

We conclude our editorial year — Sh’ma does not publish in July and August — with a rather unusual issue devoted to the Jewish house. In it you’ll meander through a house — taking in its smells and sounds, its adornments, the interplay between Jewish and other features. What is it that makes rooms, or a house for that matter, Jewish? How — beyond distinct culinary features — does a house represent the diversity of Jewish experience, or what changes and what remains the same in the traditions of a Jewish family? Home is the private space of intimate living, and also where we welcome others. We try to distinguish ourselves through our homes — in how we decorate, how we serve meals, how we welcome others. Just like families, homes are different — some large, others small; some joyous, others miserable. With what attention do we set our houses apart? What manifestations of Jewish life are noted, day-to-day, moment-by-moment?

This month we launch our enhanced Web site with added features. Also online ( www.shma.com), you can order bulk copies of our High Holiday issue for your synagogue: on vulnerability and powerful prayer. —SB