Downhill Doubts

By J.D. Smith
Published on February 1, 2001

My father has disowned me. We did not get into a fight about the family business -- there is no family business. I did not marry out of the faith, and I have no children about whose upbringing we can disagree. The source of our irreconcilable differences is that we went skiing together last year, and he is convinced that I cannot be his natural child.

Raising Children

By Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer
Published on February 1, 2001

What's the Jewish way to raise children? Simple: just teach them Torah, model your values and encourage them to be like their ancestors. Right?

Potent Portraits

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 28, 2000

Jill Poyourow's preoccupation with portraits began amid the savory smell of soup in her grandmother's kitchen. There hung an intriguing photograph of her grandma's grandfather, who had cared for her from infancy after her own mother abandoned her to come to America. The 1910 picture revealed a devout-looking man with a long, flowing white beard, seated with his right hand resting on an open book. In the shadows, Poyourow could barely make out his worn shoes.

Sisters Recapture Their Heritage

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 24, 1998

Gloria Hernandez Trujillo, 51, grew up in what she thought was a traditional Catholic home in Monterey Park. Her mother sent the children to mass and catechism classes at Our Lady of Solitude church in East Los Angeles. Trujillo made her first communion at the age of 8, wearing the requisite white frilly dress. At 12, she was confirmed, like many of the Latino children in her Eastside neighborhood.