This season on Schmooze With Suze we are embarking on a tour of icons here in Northeast Florida. What makes here the place and now the time? Well, let’s start with what is an icon?An icon is a person or a thing widely admired especially for having great influence or significance Read More

Rise and shine! It’s a beautiful day for a beautiful day. Be happy. Be kind. Always do your best.Think good and it will be good. I sprinkle positive messages to my kids and myself throughout the day. Why? Because studies show that we grow, flourish and thrive when that is our Read More

In April, I attended an Interfaith Panel Discussion followed by a Kosher for Passover- Iftar break the fast. The discussion was about what comes after death… But I was totally taken by the life in the room. The connection to God, and commitment to curiosity, was palpable. There seemed to be Read More

Welcome back to Season 2! In Season 1, I asked you to borrow my binoculars and have a look at this city of Jacksonville- our strengths and opportunities. As we stand poised on the precipice of a new mayor, I wanted to gain perspective from what many call the BEST Read More

Once upon a time, when I was a young and idealistic student, I used to look at the world and see all the solutions that seemed SO obvious. And so I tried to change the world. But I was just one person. And mostly inexperienced… And that didn’t work...So I Read More

Upon entering the main sanctuary of every synagogue that I have ever been in, I recall seeing the following verse embroidered, inscribed or emblazoned above the arc, ‏דע לפני מי אתה עומד-  Know before whom you stand.In comedy circles we say, know your audience.When I am out with my husband Read More

Have you ever heard the term “safe word?” While YOU may be thinking 50 shades of grey, I’M talking 50 shades of red.As the primary caregiver to my children, their evolving emotional, physical and mental needs are becoming more and more… consuming to me. Their booboos are no longer cuts and scrapes, Read More

Boro Park, Brooklyn, New York circa the late 70s where I grew up was a mix of multiculturalism- if you count Irish, Italian and Jewish as diversity. When my dark, Sephardic looking Israeli mom went apartment shopping with her very blonde and blue-eyed, soon to be mother-in-law, she was asked Read More

Can I tell you a secret…? It wasn't until I was in middle school that I was aware of “mixed marriages” which, by the way, in MY community meant someone marrying not another Jewish person. Growing up in my shtetl of first-generation immigrants, we married amongst our mother tongue- which Read More

You may wonder when it is that I honed in on my smartass skills as a superpower for good- and not evil…? Back in the 1990s, my hometown of New York City was a real life landscape of the bleak and the boom. The dawn of the decade followed twenty Read More

Do you dread get togethers, holidays or social events because of a particular person or people? Perhaps you put off conversations at work because it's easier than confronting a coworker? Or maybe you talk about difficult issues, instead of addressing them head on? How can we navigate the personal, professional, Read More

For nearly 45 years, my Dad would mark a Valentine's Day, which also happens to be my mom’s birthday, with chocolate and flowers. A large dozen roses or giant box of chocolates for my mom and single rose or smaller chocolates for my 3 sisters and me. But when my Read More

Remember, the show, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, he told kids when they saw something scary to “look for the helpers.” We have scary things going on in our backyard - but we also have those helpers Mr. Rogers told us to look for. Most recently, when he saw the need to be Read More

Engaging in thoughtful conversation with people who are dynamic affords me the opportunity to learn from others. As global citizens, we want to be open to varying viewpoints and respectfully relate to one another in all areas.But when it’s just the Board of me, myself and I- you know those Read More

When I found out that I was going to "produce forth an heir," I very quickly realized that while all I legally needed to exit the hospital with my tiny human was a car seat, I was now in command of all  of the rules, responsibilities, schedules and appointments for Read More

I always have a valid passport, cash on hand, and a heightened fight or flight instinct braided like challah into my D-N-A. Why? Because my parents’ parents were hunted for extinction during the Holocaust. Generational trauma is something that millions of people deal with every day. So what is it? Read More

Are you ever faced with people who seemingly have all the facts and stats regarding the social ills facing society at large– But they can’t tell you where their community's nearest food pantry is located or where to volunteer, even if they don’t? That is the difference between woke and Read More