I was signing the lease to my new apartment in Israel when my landlord asked to see my passport. He looked down at my work visa, which was pasted on a page inside, and then looked back up at me. “Oh,” he said. “This is a very bad name in Israel.” My last name, Zeveloff,…
Born to a Jewish family on Long Island, Jessica Singer was given the Hebrew name Yehudit, after the ancient figure said to have saved the Israelites by beheading an Assyrian general. For most of her life, Singer went by her Hebrew name in synagogue only. When she legally changed her name to Yehudit at age…
Upon graduation, many college students land jobs in big cities. I went to West Virginia. The move generated quizzical looks from my family and friends in the Northeast. What kind of place is that for an aspiring young Jew? Turns out, it was perfect. Upon graduation, many college students land jobs in big cities. I…
Americans donate about $1.4 billion to Israel-related charities each year. Now the government of Israel is asking for more. And, at the same time, it wants to send some money our way. In the next few weeks, the Netanyahu government and the Jewish Agency for Israel are supposed to announce the framework for what’s being…
I recently conducted some research to explore how Jews define their own cultural identity through food. I analyzed interviews done in Europe -mainly in Germany- and in America -mainly Chile- and the results were somehow surprising. Both samples were very similar: mainly middle age, secular, and Ashkenazi women. Their answers were also relatively close in…
Let’s call it a Pew-haha, these last few weeks of hand wringing, debate, and general brouhaha about the recent Pew survey on American Judaism. “Of making books there is no end,” Ecclesiastes reminds us. Op-eds, too. Now that the dust is settling, perhaps it’s worth asking a seemingly obvious question: Who cares? And more importantly,…
Last June, Jane Eisner participated in a private roundtable discussion at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem about Israel’s Jewish identity. What came out of the talks was the sense that Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora face a similar challenge — how to be a modern people in a modern world while holding…
Last June, Jane Eisner participated in a private roundtable discussion at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem about Israel’s Jewish identity. What came out of the talks was the sense that Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora face a similar challenge — how to be a modern people in a modern world while holding…
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