S. J. Schwaidelson

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Feb 28, 2023, 7:27 AM

What if no one showed up?

I've been suffering through a wretched case of sniffleous that took me down with a dull thud. I didn't really move much for the last three days of last week. But I was alert enough on Shabbat morning to flick...

Nov 2, 2022, 2:44 PM

When The Music Stops

Dana Milbank had an essay in the Washington Post this past week. One line jumped off the screen, immediately burning itself into my mind: As Jews, we know at some point the music stops," Greenblatt said. "This is burned into...

Sep 28, 2021, 1:16 AM

You Didn’t Know Bubbe, But…

Of all the Jewish big holidays, Sukkot is my favorite. Not the first and last two days that are Yom Tov, but the in-between days of chol hamo'ed. At minyan, there is lots of singing, a bit of parading...

Mar 10, 2021, 7:38 AM

Collateral Damage

Today was my mom's fifth yahrzeit. The Senior Son, the Junior Son, and my Big Brother put in appearances at zoom minyan this morning. Everyone got to say something about Mom/Bubbe. She was a towering presence in all our...

Apr 7, 2020, 8:57 PM

Widowness In The Time Of Isolation and Pesach

This past Saturday evening, my paternal family Zoomed to Florida to celebrate my aunt’s 96th birthday. Almost everyone was there; it was amazing to have all those little boxes on the screen...and everyone talking at the same time....just like...

Jan 1, 2020, 9:55 AM

Welcome To The New 20s.

The thought of doing a year-in-review episode is not particularly stimulating. In fact, it sounds incredibly dull to me. Nope, I'm definitely not in the mood for that. But what am I in the mood to write about? At this very moment, I...

Dec 17, 2019, 11:01 PM

The New American: Mischling

...It's the place and the time. The right place and right time...a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place - and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds, or hours, and shows you what is possible." ...

Sep 17, 2019, 8:25 AM

The plaques, Boss! The Plaques!

Some days just turn out to be sadder than others, and today was one of those days. No, nothing monumental happened today. It's not an anniversary of any sort. It's just a day with a confluence of sadness. The loss...

Jun 18, 2019, 11:45 PM

A Decade of Yarhzeits

Tuesday at sundown begins 16 Sivan, 5779. That date probably doesn't mean much to many you reading this. Nor does the date 16 Sivan, 5769. But it means something to me. That date marks a decade of life on my...

Apr 30, 2019, 3:20 PM

It Could Have Been So Much Worse. Really?

I heard someone say that what happened Saturday wasn't a massacre or even a mass shooting; only one person died and three or four were slightly injured. Someone else added that the only reason it wasn't worse was because...

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About Me

New York born, but living in Minnesota, S. J. Schwaidelson is a political blogger and novelist. Her own blog, The Wifely Person Speaks, appears weekly and is followed world-wide. Information about her novels, THE POMEGRANATE, DREAM DANCER and LINGUA GALACTICA, can all be found on Goodreads and at Amazon.

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