Free The Jewish Daughter Diaries by Rachel Ament

time we talk truth.”
    â€œTalk truth? I wouldn’t call this talking exactly!”
    â€œOh, of course you want to avoid the subject!”
    â€œI don’t want to avoid anything. I just don’t want to get attacked and listen to such offensive bullshit!”
    By this point, I was fully dressed and ready to storm out but found myself a de facto representative of the Israeli people and determined to break through this impasse. Sammy needed to know I wanted peace, that I wanted a two-state solution. But there was a limit to what I was willing to take, and he wasn’t having it. So I got personal.
    â€œSammy, how could you be dating me if you hate Israelis so much?”
    â€œI thought you’d be different.”
    â€œDifferent from what? We are all different. You thought I’d want to ‘kill my leaders’?”
    â€œYes.”
    I glared at him, somehow illuminating the ridiculousness of his statement. He softened, said he was sorry for generalizing, and asked if we could finally have sex. I told him that was not going to happen. He said I should just look past our ideological differences and make love. I told him he was right: I wanted to kill him, and then left.
    I cried all the way home, not just over yet another failed relationship, but for the future of the Israeli people and our neighbors. I cried over misunderstandings and shortsightedness. But most of all, I cried because my mother had been right about this one.
    But she didn’t rub my nose in it. She actually said she was sure there were plenty of nice Palestinian men who would want to date me. I mean, who wouldn’t? I remain open and hopeful. Perhaps my days of cultural exploration are over. Perhaps the universe will send a nice Israeli boy my way this time around.
    Nah.

YOU SHOULD BE PLAYING TENNIS
    Jena Friedman
    I asked my mother for her favorite cookie recipe and here’s what I got:
    INGREDIENTS
    2¼ cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
    Â¾ cup granulated sugar
    Â¾ cup packed brown sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    2 large eggs
    2 cups chocolate chips
    1 cup chopped nuts
    DIRECTIONS
    Jena, chocolate chip cookies, really? Instead of something filled with empty calories, how about taking the recipe for my zucchini oat-bran muffins? They’re healthier and will keep you full longer.
    Don’t roll your eyes. People love my zucchini oat-bran muffins. I brought them to the O’Donohues’ Christmas cookie exchange this year, and they were the hit of the party! Granted, everyone was a little drunk (except for me, Jews don’t drink), so maybe they didn’t know what they were putting into their mouths, but my muffins were still the crowd favorite. I don’t know if you know this, but Irish people drink a lot .
    Oh, I wish you had been at that cookie exchange! It would have been such good fodder for your comedy skit. All of the other women arrived to the party with goyishe baked goods like pecan sandies and Rice Krispies treats shaped like wreaths on dainty little crystal platters, and then your mother shows up with a Tupperware container full of muffins.
    It actually took the other moms a while to warm up to the muffins, but by the end of the night, people were stockpiling them to take home to their families! The best thing about muffins is that they’re high in fiber and low in fat, and you can freeze them overnight and feed them to your kids for breakfast. You just can’t do that with Oreo cream-cheese balls.
    Fine, chocolate chip cookies it is.
    Preheat the oven to 375° F.
    Since when are you baking? Why not use that time and energy to find a nice guy to play tennis with? I know you said it’s hard to meet nice men in New York, but that’s because they’re probably all playing tennis. I spent all that money on tennis lessons for you as a kid, so you should be taking advantage of it!
    Combine flour,