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I’m an angry mother. I’m also a dedicated mother, and an all-or-nothing mother. Tiger mother? She’s got nothing on me. She’s too busy seeing that her kids become concert violinists, go to Harvard, come up with a cure for cancer and change the world. Pfft - that’s the easy stuff. The road to Carnegie Hall may be paved with hours of tears and practice at her house, but I invite her to join me on the Yellow Brick Road, where each brick is paved with sweat, tears, and wet sheets. Lots of laughter but lots of laundry, too. Me? I’m making sure that my kid is always treated with respect and caring, and kindness, don’t forget kindness, especially when your child requires significant help with simple, everyday activities.

The annual Gaza Marathon organized by UNRWA, the UN agency that perpetuates refugee status for Palestinians, was cancelled after Hamas banned women from competing.

The reason given was respect for local Islamic customs, but can that the real motive?  Women -- more modestly dressed than the men -- were allowed to compete in the two previous runnings of the event, and 266 of this year's 551 registered local runners were women. 

Please find below a guest post from Ellen Seidman, the firecracker author of 'Love That Max: A Blog About Kids With Special Needs Who Kick Butt.'

My interest in disability issues is twofold: I have used a wheelchair since sustaining a spinal cord injury in 1975, and I was a school psychologist for over 30 years, working with children with a variety of disabilities.  On learning about “Spread the Word to End the Word,” I had a mixed reaction.  While I agree that it is important to reduce the stigma and name-calling associated with many disabilities, I don’t agree with focusing on this one particular label.

Mitchell Marcus, the student with a developmental disability who became an Internet phenomenon after scoring his basketball team’s final basket of the season, got a chance to tell his story again yesterday on Ellen, the talk show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

My painting of the giving of the Torah on Sinai appears on the book jacket of a terrific new book that’s said to be secular. I’ve been wondering about this.

“Your soul is pure – it has already earned its place in heaven,” the mother said, and then followed her words with a long, still hug – two souls grasping on to each other – not wanting to let go.

In response to a campaign by autism activists, Google has modified its search engine to stop it from automatically making violent suggestions when a user types in something like “Autistic people should …” according to an article in the Newark Star-Ledger.

In Berachot (34b), the Talmud teaches that a synagogue must be built with windows in the sanctuary. I believe this is so we can see who is outside and unable to join us. As Jews, we have to maintain “mental windows” everywhere so that we understand that those whom we refer to as “shut-ins” are not shut-in. They are cruelly shut out of the life many of us take for granted.

In the same week that the President of the United States and Congressional leaders unveiled a statue of Rosa Parks in the U.S. Capitol honoring the woman who refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Israel inaugurated its latest version of segregated busing.

Defenders called it a security measure, critics called it racism.