Opinion

Hebro Presents First-Ever Gay Jewish Auschwitz Tour

Hebro Travel ad The image is a little jarring. On the left, a bearded, shirtless guy in sunglasses stands on a beach, the Israeli flag reflected in his mirrored aviators. On the right, a pink Star of David hovers over an ancient building in Prague. But for Jayson Littman, the pictures make perfect sense. As…

Slouching Towards Shabbat

I’m failing at Shabbat, the most important holiday of them all. It’s not that I’m skipping it; for the past eight years, I’ve gone to services most Friday nights and many Saturday mornings. I buy a challah every week. Light candles. Recite Kiddush. I do feel some Shabbat separation — the literal translation of the…

Europe’s Jews Pick Up the Shards After Paris Terrror

After the Paris terror attacks, Jews in Europe are taking stock of where they stand. Here’s 6 voices of hope and fear from a continent on edge. ‘One Common Enemy Unites Them: Us Jews’ By Charlotte Knobloch The attacks in Paris have filled us all with tremendous shock and sadness. In the past few months…

Danny Maseng’s Hashkiveinu – Track 9 sample

Why I Fled Argentina After Alberto Nisman Scoop

Argentine journalist Damian Pachter after arriving in Tel Aviv on January 25 / Haaretz So here they are, the craziest 48 hours of my life. When my source gave me the scoop on Alberto Nisman’s death, I was writing a piece on the special prosecutor’s accusations against President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, her (Jewish) Foreign…

Reporter Who Broke Alberto Nisman Story Lands in Israel

Damian Pachter, the Argentinian journalist who broke the news of the death a week ago of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, has landed in Israel after fleeing for his life on Saturday. In an impromptu press conference (video here) at Ben-Gurion Airport Sunday morning, Pachter affirmed in fluent Hebrew that he was being followed and believed…

Don’t Believe Hype of ‘Anti-Semitic’ France

A woman holds a sign reading “I am Jewish from France” / Getty Images (JTA) — Three weeks ago, my wife and I were shopping in a Parisian kosher butcher store several miles west of the supermarket where four Jews were murdered on Jan. 9. The shop in our neighborhood was well patronized, with lines stretching…

It’s Time for the Jewish Megachurch

Lately, I’ve been speaking at synagogues around the country about emerging trends in 21st century Judaism. I often start with the well-worn joke about a Jewish castaway rescued on a desert island. His rescuers note he’d built not one but two synagogues — why, they asked. “Well,” he replied, “one is the synagogue I go…