Allison Kaplan Sommer is a journalist at Haaretz, host of Haaretz Weekend podcast and co-host of The Promised Podcast.
Allison Kaplan Sommer
By Allison Kaplan Sommer
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Life Nip/Tuck — With Your Rebbe’s Blessing
Spiritual beauty is increasingly not enough for ultra-Orthodox women. More and more, plastic surgery is becoming acceptable in a community where it was once unheard of, and rabbis are relaxing their opposition to it, a recent article in Ynet reports. Religious Jews are notorious for shunning cosmetic alterations to the body — tattoos are a…
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Life Carmel Fire Claims the Life of Pioneering Female Officer
The smell of smoke still hangs in the air of the Carmel Forest, as Israelis look with horror at the ugly black scar that the raging fires of the past five days have left on its beautiful green northern landscape. The fires extinguished, and the crisis in the past, it is now time to mourn…
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Food All Shakshuka’d Up: Eggs Israeli Style
A culinary confession: During my first weeks as an exchange student in Israel, I walked by a roadside café and peered at the fare on offer, and there it was, right next to the hummus and salad: something that looked like eggs swimming in tomato sauce. I thought it was probably the most unappealing dish…
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Life In Israel, Civil Marriage Is on the Horizon — But Only For a Few
L’Chaim! It’s nearly time to celebrate for the 60,000 Israelis who, until now, were unable to marry in their own country because they are not Jewish according to Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law. And thousands of Jewish couples will be extremely jealous. A new marriage registrar, expected to be approved by the Israeli government within…
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Life Does Tony Blair Sister-in-Law’s Conversion to Islam Highlight a Trend?
It didn’t come as a utter surprise to the British public when Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, decided to convert to Islam. The journalist, activist and all-around political gadfly demonstrated against the war in Iraq, and in 2008, she was on one of the first boats headed to Gaza…
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Life Teaching My Daughter To Take Risks
Together, my 11-year-old daughter, Naomi, and I took the plunge. Nervous and uncertain of what lay before us, we waded into the water of the Sea of Galilee and began swimming, alongside thousands of Israelis — young and old, all shapes and sizes. The annual tradition of swimming across the Sea of Galilee predates the…
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The Schmooze Does the German Government Like Some Jews Better Than Others?
With all of the painful history involved, the relationship between the German government and the country’s 12,000 Jews is never simple. Right now, the German Jewish community is up in arms over the government’s apparent discrimination against Orthodox Jews. Germany currently subsidizes the training of Liberal rabbis — the European incarnation of Reform Judaism —…
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Life A Too-High Tolerance for Hate Speech Against the Obese?
In recent months, there has been much ado over media smears, slights, and attacks on Jews, African-Americans, gays and other minorities. Journalistic careers have taken a hit in the wake of comments that have caused offense — Helen Thomas, Rick Sanchez, Juan Williams, etc. — and spirited arguments regarding the fine line between free speech…
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