Tema Smith
By Tema Smith
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Opinion Why Juneteenth – Which Marks The End Of Slavery – Should Be A Jewish Holiday
This week, African Americans will mark Juneteenth — a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth” — a holiday commemorating the freedom of their ancestors from chattel slavery. This year, it is time for the Jewish community to join them. All across the country, black communities will parade, will feast, and will pay respect to the ancestors,…
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Opinion The Jewish Community Needs to Address Chronic Illness
One Yom Kippur not so long ago, I was in too much pain to stand at Ne’ilah, the closing service. I was sitting near the back of the synagogue sanctuary, holding back tears. Looking around, it seemed that even the most frail of the elderly congregants — people who relied heavily on mobility devices like…
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Opinion I’m Black And Jewish. Ilhan Omar’s Tweet – And The Backlash – Are Tearing Me Apart
Yesterday, I opened my Twitter timeline to find friends, allies, and colleagues pitting racism and anti-Semitism against each other. The battle lines had been drawn, and I was, as I often am as a mixed race Jew, caught in the middle. Sunday afternoon, Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted a response to Glenn Greenwald, who was musing…
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Opinion Are Jews White? American History Says It’s Complicated
The first time someone told me I was white, I was seven years old. Three of my friends, all of them light-skinned black kids like me, taunted me in the schoolyard after my father dropped me off. “That’s not your real dad,” they said. “He can’t be because you’re white.” I was devastated. But I…
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Opinion What The Women’s March Can Learn From Marc Lamont Hill
Last Wednesday, Temple University professor and former CNN contributor Marc Lamont Hill gave a now-infamous speech to the United Nations on International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. His conclusion sent shockwaves through the Jewish community. At the end of his impassioned speech condemning Israel, he suggested that there is a place for resistance…
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Opinion I’m a UCLA professor. Why didn’t the administration stop last night’s egregious violence?
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Opinion I teach Israel studies at NYU. We are importing the worst of Israel and Palestine to our campuses
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Fast Forward Why top Democrats oppose bipartisan bill targeting antisemitism in universities
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Fast Forward Columbia cancels main graduation after weeks of campus tumult
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Yiddish אַ ליד וועגן אַ מיידעלעס אָפּרוף אויף פֿאָטאָגראַפֿיעס פֿון קאַצעטןPoem about a little girl’s response to photos of concentration camp victims
דער מחבר האָט איבערגעזעצט דאָס ליד לזכּרון דעם דיכטער מאיר װיזלטיר צו זײַן ערשטן יאָרצײַט