AWWWWW
Posted on 2009.06.22 at 17:24Current Music: Otis Rush - I Can't Quit You Baby (Take 3)
Well, we didn’t win, but Stefanie wrote an entry for a father’s day contest with the theme of “Why my husband/father/significant other is a cool Jew.” It made me all warm inside to read it, so I thought I would share.
My husband Jonathan is a cool Jew. To start, he buys me funky head coverings and takes me to Matisyahu concerts. He is truly one in a million. This spring, he did ALL the Pesach cleaning. He gave me an Eishet Hiyal t-shirt for Mother's Day. And when he says Amidah, he adds Bilhah and Zilpah to the list of matriarchs.
We met on j-date, initially drawn to each other's profiles by having a Hillel reference in common. At our wedding, two years ago, he put together the entire CD; our first dance was to "Little Wing" and the soundtrack included everything from Johnny Cash to the Ramones.
When he married me, he took on a wife with a chronic illness and a 7-year old daughter. A typical day in his life includes many acts of caring, compassion and love. He juggles two separately difficult tasks: working on a Ph.D. dissertation about Isaiah 53, and the often thankless job of (step)fathering.
Jonathan grew up in a non-observant family, but has focused his adult life studying Judaism from every perspective: history, texts, prayers and tradition. Now, he inspires our daughter to learn, and he teaches her how cool being Jewish can be. She says, "you can ask him almost any question about the Torah or anything, and he knows the answers," "he can help me with my Hebrew School homework really well" and, "when he celebrates the holidays, he always makes it fun."
For all these things, I love him so very much, and feel blessed to have found such a wonderful father for my little girl. And, I am grateful because at our conservative suburban shul, I am no longer the only one with piercings and Doc Martins.
My husband Jonathan is a cool Jew. To start, he buys me funky head coverings and takes me to Matisyahu concerts. He is truly one in a million. This spring, he did ALL the Pesach cleaning. He gave me an Eishet Hiyal t-shirt for Mother's Day. And when he says Amidah, he adds Bilhah and Zilpah to the list of matriarchs.
We met on j-date, initially drawn to each other's profiles by having a Hillel reference in common. At our wedding, two years ago, he put together the entire CD; our first dance was to "Little Wing" and the soundtrack included everything from Johnny Cash to the Ramones.
When he married me, he took on a wife with a chronic illness and a 7-year old daughter. A typical day in his life includes many acts of caring, compassion and love. He juggles two separately difficult tasks: working on a Ph.D. dissertation about Isaiah 53, and the often thankless job of (step)fathering.
Jonathan grew up in a non-observant family, but has focused his adult life studying Judaism from every perspective: history, texts, prayers and tradition. Now, he inspires our daughter to learn, and he teaches her how cool being Jewish can be. She says, "you can ask him almost any question about the Torah or anything, and he knows the answers," "he can help me with my Hebrew School homework really well" and, "when he celebrates the holidays, he always makes it fun."
For all these things, I love him so very much, and feel blessed to have found such a wonderful father for my little girl. And, I am grateful because at our conservative suburban shul, I am no longer the only one with piercings and Doc Martins.
