The Hue and Cry at Our House: A Year Remembered
A prism on a kitchen windowsill performs the miracle of fracturing sunlight into the complete spectrum, throwing rainbows on mundane surfaces, elevating them to something celestial and rare. Benjamin Taylor, in his compact and precise memoir, The Hue and Cry at Our House: A Year Remembered (Penguin, 2017), performs the same miracle. His last year of childhood in Forth Worth, TX, explodes into multicolored fragments, illuminating intersecting themes from the Kennedy assassination to Taylor’s homosexuality and eventual diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome.
The Netanyahu Years
On November 21, 2016, Benjamin Netanyahu surpassed David Ben Gurion’s record of longest continuous service as prime minister of Israel. Though Netanyahu’s years in power have been marked by scandal and political intrigue, his popularity with the Israeli electorate over the past seven years has grown, allowing him to do practically anything he wants.
The Shoah Through Muslim Eyes
A Pakistan-born Muslim woman with a Ph.D. from a South African university who directs the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College, a New York City Catholic school, has written a pioneering and courageous book about the Shoah (Holocaust).
Hear My Voice
The amplification of women’s voices has become an idee fixe of modern social media. Rightfully so. If anything has become clear since the 2016 presidential election and the recent #metoo exposure of rampant sexual assault, it’s the necessity and relevance of feminism in our society
A Summer of Firsts, a Summer of Shehecheyanu Moments
I’m continually amazed by the way Jewish ritual has a way of lifting up everyday moments and making them holy here at Jewish summer camp.
My Big, Gay, Jewish Family
Take your false concerns for the children of LGBTQ parents elsewhere; we're doing just fine, thank you.
Why I Marched on Capitol Hill to Protect Access to Health Care
I was listening to a political podcast while running along the beach in Tel Aviv a few weeks ago. The hosts were imploring listeners to do everything possible to save health care.
Children are Children, Even Within the Criminal Justice System
When I was six years old, I celebrated the beginning of my Jewish education with a consecration ceremony. Standing nervously with my class, I recited the sh'ma in front of my family and, eagerly taking my chocolate bar, officially entered the Jewish community.
5 Ways Game of Thrones is Like the Bible
Ever since its sixth season ended a little over a year ago, viewers have been sitting at the edge of our couches, remotes in hand, poised to tune into the next season of the astoundingly popular Game of Thrones.
Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants is Back in the Legislative Sphere
On July 20, 2017, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the DREAM Act of 2017, a bill that would provide certain immigrants who were brought to the United States as children with a pathway to legalized status and eventual citizenship.