Susan Weinberg

I am an artist, author and genealogist with a deep interest in Jewish heritage. This interest is reflected in my artwork and in my recent book We Spoke Jewish.

My travels have taken me to throughout Eastern Europe to family shtetls and archives.

04/10/2026

I am in a Jewish Arts Collective where we take a theme and study it, then create artwork around that theme. This year our theme is Beginning Again, an apt topic for me with my artwork. I have so little time to devote to it right now that I always feel as if I am starting over, trying to find my footing, rediscovering the process of letting it unfold. I’ve been experimenting a bit, playing, as I consider what artwork may speak to this topic. Read more at

One of the activities that I have participated in for many years is a Jewish Arts Collective (JAC). An earlier group which began in 2012 was...

01/04/2026

Every year I look back on what I’ve read and try to find the themes that seem to echo throughout. This year the dominant theme is that of a woman having control of her life, often documenting it in words, tracing the story of her evolution. Read more at

At the end of each year, I weigh which books stood out for me. I am often surprised by themes that connect them. A theme that occurred in m...

12/26/2025

Some years ago I wrote a book that grew out of an interview project with Jewish elders, many with an immigration story. I’ve since moved on to other projects. Recently I was contacted by our granddaughter regarding an interview that she was to do for a class with someone who had written a book. Her questions were thought-provoking and probed what I had learned out of this project. It actually proved to be an interesting thought exercise and reinforced for me how much everything we do leads us down a road of exploration. Read more at

Recently I received a request from our granddaughter. She was given an assignment to interview someone who had written a book and to focus o...

10/21/2025

Each week I join a group from our condo building to protest in support of democracy. We hold our signs aloft, building community with other protestors, but also with those passing cars from whom we solicit honks. I had never given much thought to honks except to cringe if I thought one was targeted at me. This experience has elevated the honk to a welcomed expression of solidarity. Read more at

I hurriedly strode down the street, clutching my sign as I rounded the corner to a cheerful medley of honks. I smiled, delighted at the enth...

09/22/2025

Sometimes the most mundane tasks take on an unexpected significance. Recently I was updating my card which is a combined art and genealogy card. The things that I do all seem to link up and hold hands. As I began to consider changes it soon took me into an exploration of the core life themes that echo in both my artwork and genealogy. I concluded not only are they linked, but they required a name that encapsulated them. Read more at

I feel a bit like a negligent letter writer when I decide to write a blog post, as if I should apologize for my long absence. Ideas need dow...

02/19/2025

I’ve been trying to get back to painting after the year of the move. I am fortunate to be part of the Jewish Artists’ Collective which offers me both an artistic community and a creative engine. I started the year buying some new paints and beginning a painting. It is often difficult to re-engage when I’ve stepped away, but I’ve found that the trick is to just start and be open to what may emerge. When it works the process often surprises me in unexpected ways.
Read more at

For ten years I was part of the Jewish Artists’ Lab, using Jewish and secular text to explore themes through artwork. After a lapse, it has ...

01/25/2025

For the past fifteen years, I have written a blog about my favorite reading from the prior year. It is a winnowing down to my favorites, often those which are thought-provoking, introduce new information or a new perspective. I am drawn to historical themes, but also to what moves people to take an unexpected action. Reading shapes us, but our response to books also reveals what themes resonate with our own life. This year I had a shorter list from which to select as moving consumed much of my energies (see prior posts), but with limited time, I chose my reading with great care. Read more at

This blog post has become a bit of a tradition for me. This is the fifteenth year that I have written about the books that I especially enjo...

10/20/2024

So we finally get to the part of moving that I really like. As an artist and a visual person, hanging artwork signifies that I’m home. I take great pleasure in my visual surroundings and the interaction of artwork with each other. It’s a bit like the stories of toys coming to life at night, these seemingly inanimate objects that converse. When it works, they have wonderful conversations, a bit like throwing a very successful party and I’m the host. Read more at

One of the first things we did to make the new space ours, was to put out a rug that I have had through two prior homes. Consistent with my ...

10/14/2024

There is a process to claiming a new space, to making it your own. We embraced that process by renovating, painting and re-carpeting our new home. So many decisions to make as we tried to picture what this space would ultimately look like. Read more at

We went through the purchase of our new home half sleepwalking. Were we really doing this? I couldn’t conceive of how our belongings would f...

10/01/2024

We’ve been immersed in a move which has taken over our lives. Moving is not for the faint of heart, at least after you’ve been in a home for many years with lots of storage space that absorbs all those unnecessary things that fill your life. It is a process with many elements, selecting a new home, renovating it to your taste, creating a home with artwork, and disposing of what you don’t need. I’m good at step three and atrocious at step four. We are however, very pleased with the outcome and love our new home. Read more at

It has been a quiet year for blog writing. Also reading, painting and genealogy research. Many of the activities that bring me pleasure were...

03/08/2024

I do a lot of speaking on genealogy topics and frequently speak about immigration as I find the liminal state between one state of being and another especially interesting. In keeping with the liminal nature of changing identities, I have moved into the subject of names which were particularly fluid for Jewish immigrants who had multiple names even before they came to the U.S. and tried on yet more identities. Read more at

For those involved in Jewish genealogy, the fluidity of given names often presents a brick wall. You can't find the record if you don't know...

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