Today May 23, is a beautiful spring day that B.J. would have loved, blue skies, sunny and warm.  It is today on her birthday that I feel B.J.’s absent presence in the space where friendship is of the essence.

We were introduced two years ago on a Friday night as we both leaned carefully on a counter loaded with Sabbath food and B.J. spoke Hebrew to me immediately right there, in the kitchen.

The rich aroma of spices filled the air, and somehow we skipped the formal conversation of people who have just met. We talked about writing. She wrote, I found out, mostly creative non-fiction and poetry was not her favorite genre. She was about to publish her memoir. read more

What should the Dems do? Should Sanders fight until the convention? Should he graciously concede if he has no chance of winning the nomination? How and in what form should Clinton reach out to Sanders and his supporters? These are some of the most pressing issues of the day.

I raise these issues because recently some of the friends of The Jewish Pluralist have complained that there is a pro-Clinton bias in our coverage in the US elections. They’re correct, just as there has been a consistent anti-Netanyahu “bias” in our coverage of Israeli politics.   The two American editors, Ayala and myself, both supported Clinton in the primaries.   This is accidental. It just happened that both of us, independently, and without consultation, after carefully looking at the alternatives, decided to back Hillary Clinton in the primaries. I won’t speak for Ayala, I did so because, tactically, I believed and still believe that she has the best chance of winning in November. read more

May is a celebratory month for supporters of Israel: Israel’s Independence Day, the Israel Day Parade in New York, and smaller Walks for Israel in cities all over the United States. Detroit is one such city poised to host its eleventh annual Walk for Israel.

We at Partners for Progressive Israel wished to join this year’s Walk for Israel in Detroit. But for the second consecutive year the Detroit Walk for Israel steering committee unilaterally decided to prevent us and Americans for Peace Now from participating. They say their mission is to “unite the metropolitan Detroit community to celebrate the establishment of the modern Jewish State of Israel and support its right to live in peace and security.” So why are they dividing the community by deeming who is and isn’t an adequate supporter of Israel’s “right to live in peace and security?” read more

So, to get to the point, just a few days ago, on what is now one of my infrequent trips to New York City, I found myself, standing at the DeKalb Avenue station in Brooklyn, waiting for an R train, going to my brother’s house.

It was about 10:30 at night, and there were only a few persons on the platform, and as a veteran of New York City of the 70s and 80s, I immediately started to scan the passengers on the platform. And then, from the other end of the platform, a man started to shout. A white dude, about 40-50 years old, shabbily dressed, powerfully built. His rant went something like this: “F–ing kikes, goddam f–ing kikes, I hate f–ing kikes, f–ing kikes, Hitler was right, we need to put them in the ovens. I went to Bellevue ten times, and every time the f–ing kikes took my money and robbed me. F–ing kikes, Donald Trump will know how to take care of the f–ing kikes.” read more

As we do every year, on the evening Memorial Day, Combatants for Peace Movement in coalition with Parents Circle – Families Forum, will conduct the 11th Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony. The event will be held on May 10th 2016 at Shlomo Group Arena, Tel Aviv at 9:00pm.

On this evening we all gather – Israelis and Palestinians – to remember the victims of violence on both sides, and to remind everyone that war is not an act of fate. The recent period in our region is a period of violence, tension and suffering for both people, and many additional families have already been added to the cycle of bereavement and pain. read more