In Song: V’Zot HaBeracha
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — to a classic work of rock ‘n’ roll.
In this week’s parsha, the last in the Torah, Moses takes his farewell from his people by blessing them as a nation and also on a tribal basis, as Jacob did, many years earlier.
Moses dies and is laid to rest by God himself in an unknown location.
The final verses attest to the wonders performed by his hand and to his unique relationship with God. Only one song is equal to the finale of Israel’s greatest leader:
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
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