Jane E. Herman

Jane E. Herman (she/her), a.k.a. JanetheWriter, a longtime writer and editor at the Union for Reform Judaism, is now a senior writer at JCC Association of North America and blogs at JanetheWriter Writes. She grew up at Temple Emanu-El in Edison, N.J., and currently belongs to Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City.

My Summer of Remembering

Jane E. Herman

With my mother's death earlier this summer, I've become my family's "Keeper of the Yahrzeit List." So, while some of my friends may be having a summer to remember, I seem to be having a summer of remembering.

First it was Grandma, my mother's mother, whose yahr

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Yom Kippur Minhag

Jane E. Herman

It's not as though I don't have any unread books on my bookshelf.  In fact, sometimes it feels as though most of them are unread and there's just no time to pluck one from the shelf, curl up and get lost in its pages.  Among my recent acquisitions still

For the Sake of a Namesake: L'dor v'dor

Jane E. Herman

A few months ago, during an informal visit in my apartment from my parents, my sister and my nephew Ian, I was stretched out on the living room floor and Ian, as five-year-olds are want to do, was walking on my back and climbing all over me.