Two summers ago, I published an academic book about blacks and Jews that did not include a single black Jew in the narrative. Ilana Kaufman, founder and president of the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative, encouraged me to open my eyes to my own implicit assumptions about Jews,… Read more »
Opinion
Honoring father, scientist seeks WWII info
My beloved father and hero, Solomon Eisenberg, served on the USS Daly DD-519, a naval destroyer during World War II. He saved two men who fell overboard into the Bering Sea off the coast of Adak, when the Japanese occupied the Aleutian Islands of Alaska after the bombing of… Read more »
It is time for Hasidic leaders to embrace the internet
SUFFERN, N.Y. (JTA) — My two children, aged 13 and 15, attend daily Zoom classes from designated corners of our suburban home. Slovenly habits aside, their workspaces are virtual classrooms in which they analyze George Orwell’s work and ponder Talmudic passages in equal measure. Online classes — the ones they… Read more »
These 10 Yiddish words will get you through quarantine
This story originally appeared on Kveller. We’ve been self-quarantining for more than 40 days and 40 nights and, quite frankly, we’re running out of steam. Still, we can’t escape all the social media posts and articles (and our mother’s voices in our heads) telling us to make good use of… Read more »
Our post-pandemic Shabbat meals should include far less meat
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Last year I wrote about how, as we come to terms with the existential threat of climate change, our joyous occasions will shift in both spirit and practice — including the food we eat and how it is produced. The same is true in the… Read more »
Vulnerable Jewish communities are suffering through this crisis. We must not forget them when it’s over.
TEL AVIV (JTA) — In pop culture, Jews are most often depicted as affluent, assimilated and Ashkenazi. Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld and Mrs. Maisel have long informed the public perception of who Jews are and what they are like. Recent popular shows like “Unorthodox,” “One of Us” and “Shtisel”… Read more »
Knitting teaches good lessons for pandemic
Recently I’ve been reading articles by clergy, including several rabbis, that reassure us of life beyond coronavirus. One way practically anybody can reinforce this hope in tomorrow is to work on a long-term craft project today. Great talent is not a requirement — I have been an intermediate knitter… Read more »
When did elderly people like me become disposable?
TORONTO (JTA) — The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 is shaking the world in disturbing ways. As someone who is no longer young, I find one aspect of the crisis to be particularly unnerving: the attitude toward the elderly. The media is filled with stories about the problem represented by the… Read more »
Pandemic exposes U.S. food insecurity crisis nonprofits alone cannot fix
As Jews, we are commanded to be just, to aid and care for those most vulnerable among us. The word “tzedakah” itself translates to “justice,” not simply “charity,” as many believe. This is a value Jews have internalized and acted upon over the centuries. Social justice is not merely a… Read more »
Zoom is getting safer. Here’s how you can make your meetings even more secure.
NEW YORK (JTA) — Just a few weeks ago, most Americans were not familiar with the concept of Zoombombing. But as the COVID-19 pandemic forced many business, community and even social meetings online, Zoom increasingly became the platform of choice for videoconferencing. The rapid growth in its use came with… Read more »
Local scholar finds wisdom in Mi Shebeirach, the Jewish prayer for healing
The last few weeks have been difficult, as our entire world has changed in response to the coronavirus. There have been times recently when I have been overwhelmed by fear and sadness and grief. At other times, I have savored the quiet of a slowed-down life and been awed… Read more »
Israel is suffering from coronavirus. Haredim have been made scapegoats
After the deluge of negative headlines over the last several weeks, when COVID-19 is finally beaten back, it will be the scenes of police cordoning off Bnei Brak like a medieval plague city that will define the corona crisis for most Israelis and international observers. These media attacks, which… Read more »
The upside to celebrating in isolation: This might be the holiest Passover ever
NEW YORK (JTA) — Sitting at my Seder table with my two eldest daughters and my wife, I was struggling to find something to say that would provide meaning to this moment. Here we were: alone, beginning a Passover unlike any other we had ever experienced and, please God, will… Read more »
Passover demands we remember the Exodus. That means taking care of our most vulnerable.
NEW YORK (JTA) — Every Passover, we strive to experience Egypt in our own lives. Locating the suffering of our Egypt wasn’t hard this year: It seems like most days my husband and I share the names of new people we personally know who have passed away from COVID-19… Read more »
To give my Israeli synagogue a chance of surviving the pandemic, I had to quit my job as rabbi
REHOVOT, Israel (JTA) — To help my kehillah survive the coronavirus pandemic, I had to do something dramatic and counterintuitive: step away from being its official rabbi. Our faith communities need spiritual leaders in these trying times more than ever. But as a non-Orthodox rabbi in Israel, I am largely… Read more »
What I want the greater Tucson community to know about anti-Semitism
I would like to tell you a story. It was the last day of seventh grade. As snacks were eaten and yearbooks were passed around the room, I was content. I was looking forward to my second year at a Jewish summer camp in California, where I had the opportunity… Read more »
For young Jews away from families, COVID-19 puts Passover in jeopardy
Randi Bergman isn’t sure of her Passover plans yet, but there’s a good chance she’ll be spending the holiday alone. Bergman, a 34-year-old freelance fashion writer, lives alone in what she calls a junior one-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto. The setup — desk, bed, couch, TV, kitchenette but no dining… Read more »
Grieving my husband prepared me for this pandemic
WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (JTA) — I’ve been preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic for the past year. No, I am not an alarmist, prophet or a hoarder. I am a 39-year-old mother of four young children — and I am a widow. My husband, Ari, passed away on March 6, 2019.… Read more »
You don’t need Zoom or Skype to say Kaddish without a minyan. Here’s a healthier option for the community.
WALTHAM, Mass. (JTA) — Like so many others, I am feeling the spiritual loss and pain of our current inability to learn Torah and pray together in person. Many mourners are devoted to the customary recitation of Kaddish for a deceased close relative and struggling with how to do… Read more »
Growing up the child of Holocaust survivors prepared me for this pandemic
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (JTA) — I was born in Dzalalabad, Kyrgyzstan, to Polish Jews who had fled Warsaw following the Nazi onslaught in 1939. When they met up with the Russian forces and refused Russian citizenship, my parents, like thousands of others, were shipped off to Komi SSR, a… Read more »