My family gathers for our weekly Shabbat [Jewish day of rest ] dinner celebration, waiting hungrily for the ceremonial introduction. Approaching my youngest sister, my father lays a hand on her hair and recites a brief Hebrew blessing, sealing it with a kiss. He'll do the same for his other four children. As the oldest, I wait patiently, watching my grandmother tear up. My grandmother first encountered Jewish celebration in America in her fifties as a Russian immigrant; she never dreamed...