Anna, Ruth's daughter and Sarah's granddaughter, emailed responses to my questions on 1 January 2005.

Anna is 20, and she was born in upstate New York.  She is currently studying African-American museums and Thai-Yoga massage.  Anna says she expresses being Jewish by "living Jewish."  For Anna this way of life includes "deeds, actions, and objects."  She believes that she must live out her faith by "caring for the sick, nurturing family life, supporting community, making Jewish practice meaningful for [herself], and taking ownership of [her] religion." 

When I asked Anna how she expresses her Judaism in ways different from her mother, she replied that she doesn't need to "fight to the same extent" her mother fought to "ensure rights for women within Judaism."  Anna remembers her mother's angel cards as the object that best reflects her mother's Judaism.  When I asked Anna to comment further on the angel cards, she told me that she gave out a set of cards to everyone who attended her bat mitzvah.  After her bat mitzvah her family incorporated these cards into its Shabbat service.  After Shalom Aleichem, the prayer before the meal, each family member picks a card and reflects on the positive character trait written on the card.  Each person talks about how the trait related to the week just past or how to incorporate the trait in the in the coming week.  Anna says that many of their friends have also incorporated angel cards into their Shabbat services. 

To her children Anna wants to transmit the importance of caring for family.  She would feel sad if her children did not perpetuate the observance of Shabbat.