Joan Afton is an LA-based writer, storyteller and educator.
Joan Afton
By Joan Afton
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Culture She was my Hebrew school bully — and I finally learned what happened to her
It was supposed to be a secular humanist synagogue, but it seemed a lot more like 'Lord of the Flies'
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Culture Whether fleeing Nazis, Cossacks, wildfires or ICE, we all need a ‘go bag’
Across the years and miles, we carry the weight of the difficult choices that have to be made
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Culture How from where we started did we ever reach this Hanukkah?
A tale of friendship, resilience, holidays, family, Katharine Hepburn and the power of an unpronounceable acronym
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News DNA test kits spark a surge of online conversions to Judaism in the U.S.
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Culture She was a dancer who leapt to the top of her field — then the Trump administration fired her
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Culture RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
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Fast Forward Cory Booker has long embraced Jewish tradition. Now he has married a Jewish woman.
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Fast Forward Trump’s new White House ballroom architect is a Jewish immigrant who has advocated for refugees
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Art It’s time to reconsider what we know about Jewish birthing rituals
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Looking Forward My favorite Christmas scene in literature — and why it makes me feel so Jewish
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Opinion Americans are waking up to right-wing antisemitism. We’re still ignoring the root problem
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