Bethany Mandel

May 13, 2019 09:00 AM MDT
When I was shopping for wedding dresses, I kept hitting a snag: everything flattering showed way too much skin. Outside of the fact that I wouldn’t have been comfortable wearing a halter top in front of both of our families, I also had to work within the modesty constraints of the religious service. And so, despite not being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints myself, I found myself googling “Mormon bridal shop” in an attempt to find an affordable, flattering, and modest gown to wear on the big day.
4 Min Read
March 09, 2019 03:00 PM MST
I grew up in a strange household religiously. My parents divorced because they couldn’t decide if I would be raised Jewish or Catholic. One would think this is a decision that would have been reached before having a baby (especially when you’ve been married a decade before the baby comes into the picture), but alas, religion opened a hole in their marriage that my parents found impossible to bridge. My father was Jewish, my mother Catholic, and despite living full-time with my mother, I decided I would be Jewish. My mother told me Jews were “people of the Book,” and I liked books. My favorite food, then and now, was also matzo ball soup, and once my mother told me that recipe was also Jewish, well, I was sold. And so, at the wise age of 7, I declared I was Jewish, and almost 25 years later, I still am.
4 Min Read