Dr. Kenneth Freedberg was standing at his wife’s bedside in a Boston hospital’s intensive care unit when an unexpected visitor entered: Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “We were there for no more than 45 minutes when Rochelle walks in,” said Freedberg, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “She didn’t work there,” he said, recalling his…
From a young age, Darby Leigh knew he was on a spiritual path. Fascinated by religion and spiritual practices, he thought about becoming a rabbi but quickly dismissed it, for one main reason: He is profoundly deaf. Today, Leigh is rabbi of Congregation Kerem Shalom in Concord, Massachusetts — and at the forefront of creating…
A former employee at Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston filed a suit for employment discrimination in Massachusetts Superior Court Friday, the second such case this week. Matthew Lebovic, the former associate director of campus services, is suing CJP and three of the nonprofit’s leaders for what he alleged in the complaint was disability discrimination and…
An employee at Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies filed suit in Massachusetts Superior Court Wednesday, alleging that the nonprofit Jewish federation discriminated against him for his religion and sex, and retaliated against him for taking parental leave. Zachary Kogan is suing CJP and Kimberlee Schumacher, the vice president of partnership and services, whom Kogan said in…
In 2015, Matthew Teitelbaum left Toronto to head one of Boston’s foremost cultural institutions, the august 150-year-old Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). From the start, he wanted to see a significant culture shift. He was well on his way to accomplishing that when a racial incident threatened to derail his best efforts, and intentions….
As he walks the hallways of a large suburban Chicago hospital amidst an increasing number of COVID-19 patients, Rabbi Ariel Marinelli is scared. “My wife and I are on the same page,” said the 37-year-old Orthodox rabbi. “She too gets nervous.” It’s a familiar but dispiriting return to the pandemic front lines for Marinelli, the…
The Jewish Advocate, a 118-year-old Boston news weekly, announced today that it will cease publication. The paper was the oldest continually-circulated English-language weekly Jewish newspaper in the United States until the announcement of its suspension in its September 25, 2020 issue. The publication, which was founded in 1902 at the suggestion of the father of…
In less than two weeks, the High Holidays will arrive in the midst of this unprecedented pandemic. While it may be a challenge to engage worshippers, it’s not impossible. This past month, clergy across Judaism’s denominations shared their thoughts on recreating a High Holiday experience without people in the pews. All were confident about conveying…
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