Unpacking the President's Plan to Close Guantanamo
On Tuesday, President Obama submitted a plan to Congress detailing how his Administration intends to proceed towards closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Our Wake up Call for Wilderness Protection
"What’s happening in Alaska isn’t just a preview of what will happen to the rest of us if we don’t take action. It’s our wake-up call. The alarm bells are ringing.
A Vacancy at the Supreme Court
The news of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing shocked the nation last week.
Fight to Repeal the Death Penalty Not Over in Delaware
“Death penalty repeal bill fails.” That was roughly the headline in the Delaware News Journal the morning of January 29 after a long, powerful, and exhausting deb
Keeping Up with the Court: A Mid-Term Roundup
The Supreme Court is in a bit of pre-June term height, having heard numerous important cases with many more to go, handing down some decisions, and continuing to prepare the docket for the rest of this term and the beginning of the next.
The Torah In Haiku: Ki Tisa
83 is the New 13: Why Have a Second Bar Mitzvah?
Inspired by Stan, our congregation's 83-year-old bar mitzvah boy, I’m thinking that I may not wait until I turn 83 to recreate some part of my entry into adulthood, according to Jewish tradition, on an upcoming Friday night.
Galilee Diary: Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
(Langston Hughes, “Harlem”)
Recently I began to volunteer once a week, assisting the English literature teacher in a nearby Arab high school. I’ve known the teacher, and the principal, for many years, through arranging encounters for their students with Jewish visitors, and this seems like a good way to stay in touch and involved. My first assignment was to present a background lesson to two 10th-grade classes studying a poem by Langston Hughes (“the poet laureate of Harlem,” who died in 1967). This assignment meant covering slavery, emancipation, the Civil War, Jim Crow, and the civil rights struggle, in simple English, assuming almost no historical background, in 40 minutes. Interesting challenge.
The Israel/Syria Story No One is Talking About
This story of Israel’s diversity, coexistence and humanitarian aid as evidenced by the Galillee Medical Center community moves me, and especially now, I feel it is important to share it with others.