On Sunday, February 26^th I participated in a rally in support of Israelis who are protesting to keep the state Jewish and democratic. The rally was sponsored by unXeptable, which calls itself, “a grassroots movement launched by Israel expats in support of a democratic Israel.” Two of my adult children and their families also attended this event.

My daughter, who lived in Israel for several years, is part of a local Israeli expat WhatsApp group. Someone posted about the event on this group, and another member must have driven by the rally, after which she posted a response (in Hebrew) along with a photo. “These are the ‘love’ signs for the State of Israel. A boy with a kipah calling the State of Israel racist, and a man with a sign calling Israel a dictatorship. This is self-flagellation. This is what our enemies need to see.” read more

On a wet, snowy evening in Brooklyn, over one hundred people turned out for a reading of “How To Make A Revolution” at the Invisible Dog Art Center. The documentary play is co-authored by Israeli Jewish activist Einat Weizman and Palestinian human rights advocate Issa Amro, who lives in the West Bank.

I first heard Amro discussing living conditions under Israeli rule in the film “Tinderbox.” I wondered if he would make it to the United States for the event due to his November 22, 2022, arrest. He was there and spoke with audience members before and after the performance. read more

An Armenian restaurant in the Christian Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem was vandalized on January 26^th by a group of young, religious, male Israelis with kippot and tzitzit. It is a Chillul HaShem, a desecration of God’s name

The video footage shows an altercation between the young men and defenders of the property. Reports indicate that diners were enjoying their food and the evening when the attack commenced.

We, diaspora Jewry, cannot be at peace with these Price Tag acts of violent vengeance. We cannot choose blissful ignorance. We can neither despair nor condone. There is no neutral position. We must respond. We cannot excuse ourselves with claims that we can’t tell Israelis what to do. If we love the Jewish state, we must insist that it pursue both Jewish and humanitarian values. read more

Our brothers and sisters in the United States, our partners in the Jewish destiny and the values of the State of Israel:

Please join us in the decisive struggle to preserve the Jewish and democratic character of the state, which was established 75 years ago and inspired by the prophets and with the aim of shaping a Jewish state based on the values of justice and ethics, which are the foundation of our existence: “Zion in judgment will be redeemed and those who return to her – in justice” (Isaiah 1:27). read more

“Every time I meant to say no– I remembered Shunamit and said: ‘OK, Let’s’ give it a try….’” This was the brief and delightful message with which the principal summarized Shunamit’s eight years at Etzion, an extraordinary school for children with special needs. An eight-year educational journey that was complex yet insightful for the school staff, for Shunamit and for us; it began on the verge of rejection. Shunamit was accepted to the school but with a huge question mark. The school’s principal, with her humane and educational sensitivity, saw the difficulties and the looming hurdles, yet listened and saw potential and possibilities. She carefully read Shunamit’s therapeutic report and heard us. Shunamit was sitting in the room with her large green eyes, two braids framing her face. Was there a chance? read more

“My Tree,” a documentary directed by Canadian playwright and filmmaker Jason Sherman, follows his quest to learn the backstory of a tree planted in Israel on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah in the 1970s. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) connected with Toronto shuls, thus allowing 13-year-old boys to have a tree dedicated in their names.

Sherman relates a version of greening Israel that impacted the Canadian diaspora, the fourth-largest Jewish community in the world. He delivers his opening comments with sarcasm and self-mockery while he schleps around Israel looking for his almost fifty-year-old tree. It was supposed to be his “stand-in” and connection to Eretz Yisroel. read more

As we prepare to celebrate Rosh Hashanah tonight, we share with all our readers a prayer for our country.

For centuries, a prayer for the country has been included in prayer books in Jewish communities around the world. The prayer is recited on the Sabbath and on Holy Days. Tonight we hold in our hearts loved ones and recall the holiness of every human being, created in God’s image.

“God of holiness, we hear Your message: Justice, Justice you shall pursue. God of freedom, we hear Your charge: Proclaim liberty throughout the land. Inspire us through Your teachings and commandments to love and uphold our precious democracy. Let every citizen and person living in our country, take responsibility for the rights and freedoms we cherish. Let each of us be an advocate for justice, an activist for liberty, a defender of dignity. And let us champion the values that have in the past made our nation a haven for the persecuted, a beacon of hope among the nations. read more

Clara Landsberg, a Jewish-born teacher, social worker, and pacifist, lived at Hull House in the room directly adjacent to Jane Addams’s for roughly 20 years and made significant contributions to the Chicago settlement house. However, scholars have paid scant attention to her story until now, perhaps because she never sought prominence during her lifetime.[1] While researching her connection with Bryn Mawr College as part of a larger project on early Jewish women students at the Seven Sisters schools, I have discovered that shortly after graduating in 1897, Landsberg left Judaism to become Episcopalian. Afterward, she maintained ties with her influential Jewish parents but also became a member of the nation’s Protestant elite and of an international sisterhood of pacifists. Like many leading women intellectuals and social workers of her day, Landsberg lived with her lifelong partner—a woman—in a predominantly female world. This article will provide an overview of Landsberg’s biography, with a focus on her role at Hull House. read more

 “My Name is Sara,” which opens nationally on July 22, is based on the life of Sara Góralnik (1930-2018), a pre-teen Jewish girl who passed as a Christian during World War II. It was produced in association with the USC Shoah Foundation.

It is presented in the tradition of “Europa Europa,” as each film chronicles Jewish youngsters who must hide their true identities to outlive the Holocaust and the madness around them.

Director Steven Oritt has employed an approach that is universalistic while also being specific. read more