Shimon Peres on the Futility of War
After the recent passing of Israeli President Shimon Peres, z"l, I'm remembering the time I sat down with him in a Manhattan midtown hotel in 1994 at the beginning of the Oslo process to discuss the peace process.
What Is It About Israel?
It was a straightforward question, spoken in a tone that was casual but knowing: “Did it change you?” he asked us.
Communal Aid: How to Ensure No One Falls Through the Cracks
When we made aliyah in 1990, arriving at Shorashim, the community was a moshav sheetufi, a commune of 30 families. The economy was similar to a kibbutz – all salaries, whether from communal businesses or from work “outside,” went to the common bank account; each family received a house to live in and a monthly allowance based on family size. But not anymore.
Red and Blue and White: Being an American and a Jew
I know from conversations I have had with Israelis, they find it difficult, if not impossible, to understand how Jews can feel so at home, so safe, so self-assured in the United States. For so many of our co-religionists—those who were forced to flee from oppressive regimes in the former Soviet Union, or Ethiopia, or those whose parents and grandparents fled from or grew up in the ashes of state-sanctioned hatred—they cannot possibly understand how we can live so calmly and unafraid in this nation. They can’t quite understand what it means to be an American and a Jew.
Stand Up for Racial Justice This Fall by Taking Action on Voting Rights
Starting this summer, the Reform Movement will be taking action around the United States under the banner of Nitzavim: Standing Up for Voter Protection and Participation.
A Visit to Prague Brings Rosh HaShanah Inspiration
On my way to England, I took a trip to Prague's Jewish community, which has existed through periods of tolerance and extreme anti-Semitism for 1,000+ years.
Escaping Danzig with Help from a Box of Chocolate
In the summer of 1937, my great-uncle George and his wife, Margaret, together with my grandmother, Toni Prinz, and my father, Ray, boarded a ship for Copenhagen. Great-aunt Selma and her husband, Mor, escorted them to the ship to wave goodbye and at the very last minute “gifted” them with a small box of chocolate produced by MIX Konfect, a local company.
Hidden under the chocolates were gold coins Uncle George had packed in the box in anticipation of the trip. George and Margaret carefully accepted the box with its concealed $10,000. My father, just 12 at the time, had about $3000 worth of gold pieces sewn into his suitcase and his coat hem. The mishpucha (family), ostensibly on vacation, traveled overnight to Copenhagen where they visited Tivoli Gardens and after a couple of days, returned to Danzig. While in Copenhagen, Toni and Ray wired their money to Union Bank in Los Angeles, California, where a few family members already lived. George and Margaret similarly wired funds to other places in North America.
A Dybbuk Strikes Again in a Spooky New Polish Film
Based on the 2008 play Adherence by Piotr Rowicki, the new film Demon plays on the Jewish folktale of the dybbuk, an evil spirit that possesses a living person, often during a wedding, when the bride and groom are particularly vulnerable (which is why they traditionally wear white).
How I Found My Spiritual Home - and More - in Judaism
For many years, I felt inhibited to knock on the door of a synagogue. Simultaneously, my heart and gut knew where I belonged. There is in fact Jewish ancestry on my father’s side – contested by some relatives; strong enough to reinforce my feelings of visceral kinship.
On Yom Kippur, Our Actions Should Aim for the Bullseye
I often use the imagery of a bullseye when teaching young children the complicated concepts related to the High Holidays and Yom Kippur. Each day when we try to do our best, it’s like we’re aiming for the center of the bullseye. But sometimes we say something that hurts someone a friend’s feelings, or we do something unkind to a loved one. That’s when we land on an outer ring and miss the mark.