Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 26

It’s the week of Shavuos!

Things have been a bit crazy in the Klempner household as of late. We’re already in the week of the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, the subject of my picture book, A Dozen Daisies for Raizy.

A few weeks ago, in honor of the 5th anniversary of Raizy, I asked librarians, teachers, and parents about how they’ve reacted to Raizy.Here are some of the responses:

From fabulous librarian Davida Levin, of the Torah Day School of Atlanta:

Ilove using the book every Shavuos with my K-2 library groups, and was d...

Kveller writers talk G-d with their kids

The Jewish parenting website Kveller is running a series right now on parenting. They’ve got 5 perspectives so far, and I have to admit I have mixed feelings.

They seem to have picked some extreme situations–a mom who clearly has OCD, a kid who has chosen Communism over Judaism–but also some pretty normal ones, like the soon-to-be dad finally realizes the fate of his unborn child is out of his hands and chats with G-d about protecting him and (this had me laughing both out of amusement and emp...

I stepped up to the challenge…but did I succeed?

Well.

A couple months ago, I challenged writers to try something new: a new genre, new POV, new publication, anything that would help us to stretch our wings.

Since I threw down the gauntlet, I had to participate in this challenge, right? So I thought about a couple possible places to sub a feature, a genre I hadn’t published in at least two years. Then I brainstormed a few feature ideas, and I sent our queries based on them.

Guess what.

I got nada.

I know that my ultimate success isn’t in my hand...

Soul-bearing writing–writing personal essays that are a little too personal for comfort

Tablet published a new piece of mine today, about the untidy family life of a person who is an Orthodox Jew with relatives who are devout Christians. The comments are busy, and no trolls have appeared so far (meaning that anyone who disagrees with me does so with politeness and reflection).

I’ve published the piece because the problem I described in the article is a surprisingly common one (among the “baalei teshuvos” who come to religiosity as adults) that most people ignore.

It’s sorta mortif...

It’s less than 3 weeks ’til Shavuot and it’s been 5 years of Raizy!

It’s the 5th anniversary of my picture book about Shavuos,A Dozen Daisies for Raizy, and I’d like to learn from teachers and librarians what activities they’ve used with the book and how their kids have responded to it. If you have pix of art projects or the like, that’s even better!

You can respond to me in the comments below or privately at beccaklempner@gmail.com.

Save the books for L.A. Jewish kids!

The local Jewish children’s library here in L.A. will be closing in a month and a half. It gets plenty of visitors, but the Federation wants to let the Zimmer Museum (a bigger money-maker) use the space.

Think she heard the Jewish Library is closing? (Picture available through Creative Commons–rumolay on Flickr)

Regular patrons like me are grumbling. How else can we feed the voracious literary appetites of our Jewish kids without breaking the bank? PJ Library is a fabulous resource, but has thr...

Springtime inspiration–take a nature walk

A sure sign of spring in California

I’ve been really enjoying the arrival of spring here in L.A. Last week, my daughter and I strolled to school. We spotted our first monarch of the annual migration back up north.The neighbors’ gardens were full of irises and azaleas.Strong wind over the last week knocked the almonds off one neighbor’s tree before they ripened.

Our own garden is full of sweet peas, swiss chard, herbs and a single California poppy (a stray from last year’s batch–I didn’t plant t...

Reading local-to-L.A. authors

One of my favorite things to do is to promote the work of Jewish writers with West Coast connections. Here are a few I’ve read in the last couple months:

Hands-On How To’s for the Home & Heart by Tova Younger (Shemtov Press 2012)

Tova Younger’s recent release

Tova Younger is a former Angeleno who settled in Kiryat Sefer in 2004. Her new book, Hands-On How To’s for the Home & Heart, contains friendly and very practical advice of all types for the Jewish wife.

When I was first living on my own, som...

Grabbing those lemons and making lemonade

If your day includes some of these, it’s time to find a pitcher, some water and sugar.

About 9 months ago, I went on vacation. Vacations are unusual for the Klempner family, and I really enjoyed the break from normal surroundings and routines.

Unfortunately, my husband checked his email on the third day of our vacation and informed me that my email account had been hijacked. When I investigated further, I discovered that all my contacts had been deleted, as well.

This scenario might sound famili...

Play-by-play: The Weird Things that Happen When You Write Under Time Pressure

Tick-tock…Quick, that deadline’s approaching!

Foolish me.

So, as I mentioned last week, I committed to produce a story just three days after Passover was over. I did prewrite before the holiday, and even had started a first draft in longhand (I often do). It was this surprisingly dark piece, written in second-person. A concerned family member was talking to “you,” and “you”(it becomes clear) are suffering from a clinical depression.

When I picked these materials back up after Passover had wrappe...