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Elana Moskowitz: In Appreciation of My American Jewish Childhood
We talk to Elana Moskowitz about how her American Jewish upbringing shaped her life and worldview.
Summary
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Elana Moskowitz, an educator at Michlelet Mevasseret Yerushalayim, about how her American Jewish upbringing shaped her life and worldview.
Moskowitz grew up Orthodox in America in the 1990s—alongside her brother David Bashevkin—before moving to Israel and joining a Haredi community in Jerusalem.
In this episode we discuss:
—What is the unique new contribution of American Judaism to the Jewish story?
—What have been the successes and failures of Judaism on American shores?
—How do familial and institutional influences shape the lives we believe we ought to lead?
Tune in to hear an inside conversation about the Bashevkin family and what it means to live in a medina shel chesed.
Interview begins at 19:40.
Mrs. Elana Moskowitz grew up in New York and earned her B.Ed in English from Michlalah Jerusalem College. She is a passionate and energetic educator who has been teaching and mentoring in various seminaries in Eretz Yisrael for the past 25 years. She currently teaches at Michlelet Mevasseret Yerushalayim (MMY) where she heads their second-year program. In addition to guest lecturing for both Anglo and Israeli-American women, Elana is a writer for Mishpacha magazine where she develops and contributes Torah content. She lives with her husband and children in Yerushalayim.
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References
“Thank You from an American Jewish Child” by David Bashevkin
“An apology from your American Jewish parents” by David Magerman
“A Kosher Home” by Elana Moskowitz
“The Grandfather I Thought I Knew” by Elana Moskowitz
“Sounds of My Childhood” by Elana Moskowitz
Reb Mendel and His Wisdom by Yisroel Greenwald
“When life is like weaving a quilt” with Frieda Vizel
“Yiddishkeit Without Ideology: A Letter To My Son” by Moshe Koppel
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