The Chameleon in the Closet

This memoir is a tribute to all parents who stand behind their children’s live-altering decisions. While many of our contemporaries struggle with the issues of children who intermarry and grandchildren who are not raised as Jews, BJ Rosenfeld has dealt with perhaps the opposite challenge: sons who have gone beyond her and her husband’s Conservative Jewish observance and become Orthodox Jews. The result: "The Chameleon in the Closet," a humorous, touching, thought-provoking memoir in which she takes us on her journey to meld her own lifestyle with those of her sons and their new families.

This memoir is a tribute to all parents who stand behind their children’s live-altering decisions. While many of our contemporaries struggle with the issues of children who intermarry and grandchildren who are not raised as Jews, author BJ Rosenfeld has dealt with perhaps the opposite challenge: sons who have gone beyond her and her husband’s Conservative Jewish observance and become Orthodox Jews. The result: "The Chameleon in the Closet," a humorous, touching, thought-provoking memoir in which she takes us on her journey to meld her own lifestyle with those of her sons and their new families. A freelance writer living in upstate New York, Ms. Rosenfeld travels through the ultra Orthodox world of her son in Israel, the Modern Orthodox world of her other son in New York, and her own world – one in which a mother’s instinctive understanding and acceptance of her children’s choices and her willingness and ability to compromise will surely strike a chord not only with readers who have children, but with those who have parents as well.

When her older son broke with his Conservative Jewish upbringing and plunged into Orthodoxy, BJ Rosenfeld was confronted with the challenge of accepting or rejecting his rigorous religious beliefs. Somewhere along the way she became a chameleon, changing her clothing and demeanor not at whim but to suit the situation and the circumstances. Her closet contains two distinct wardrobes: shorts, slacks, and sleeveless tops for the world she lives in; long skirts and long-sleeved blouses for the world in which both her sons exist. BJ is an interntional speaker and an award-winning author. Before starting a career as a freelance writer, she taught Spanish, French, and remedial reading. Her work has appeared in Kashrus Magazine, Boom Magazine, Jewish Woman Magazine, The Jewish World, and on Northeast Public Radio. She is president of Hadassah Capital District and vice president of the Vaad HaKashruth of the Capital District.  She chairs the Community Relations Council for the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and serves on the board of Women's Philanthropies and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild. She and her husband live in upstate New York.  They have two sons and ten grandchildren.  One son lives in Israel; the other is in New York.