Donald Trump’s announcement last week declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel left my father in tears. He was sitting hunched over his heavily used black laptop, scanning through the unedited sentences of his unpublished novel. My family was gathered around the only source of heat in the room, unaware of his daunting stream of thoughts,…
Over the past few weeks, a storm has raged through Israel. I am a member of Breaking the Silence, an organization of Israeli soldiers who testify about what they did in the occupied territories. Our organization is once again under attack in an attempt to undermine our credibility through smearing our name and paving the…
I was six when I first felt guilty for receiving a gift. I didn’t know what money was, but I was pretty sure we didn’t have it. Although I didn’t grow up feeling inadequate, I somehow knew we had less. Nevertheless, Hanukkah was a festive occasion in my house. My parents made an abundance of…
Many would say Alabama is black and white. Trying to convince those people otherwise feels futile. As a Yankee who lives here now, it’s easy to reduce Alabama to a fever dream and hide in an enclave of Jews, most transplanted here because Birmingham’s a college town that needs academics. I’m a bit of a…
Dylan Farrow says she was sexually abused by Woody Allen at age seven. I believe her. Why wouldn’t I? Actually, there’s an easy answer to that. By and large, most men do not believe most women who accuse men of sexual abuse. If that has changed (and I don’t think it has), it has only…
The Messiah is coming — again. That was the message at a conference of rabbis from around the world, held the weekend before Thanksgiving in Brooklyn. The keynote speaker said he believed, at his “inner core,” that the late leader of the far-reaching Chabad-Lubavitch movement would soon return to prepare the world for redemption. “It…
Dear Pro- Trump, Pro-Israel supporters, Congratulations. You got what you wanted. Yesterday, the president declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel. He didn’t use the word “undivided”, but he did promise to one day move the embassy to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was my home for three years. Israel was my parent’s home until they moved to the…
I can’t walk into any synagogue in America – and barely any synagogue in the world – without hearing songs written by the man who sexually assaulted my mother. That’s because my mom is one of the many of girls and young women whom Shlomo Carlebach sexually harassed, assaulted or abused while he traveled the…
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