by Jennifer Saber “Go see the David.” A close friend (a world traveler and lover of art and history) didn’t hesitate for a moment when I told her I was visiting my daughter studying abroad in Florence, Italy. “Make sure you go see the David.” So I texted my daughter. “I was told we MUST Continue Reading »
by Kendra Walz I recently read an academic article entitled The Baha’i Faith and the Market Economy by Farhad Rassekh. Baha’i is a religion that began in Iran, and the Baha’i World Centre is a beautiful temple that sits on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. It is one of the many important religious and cultural Continue Reading »
By Nina Fondiller Woldin Yesterday, I spent three hours cleaning the parts of my stove that can only be cleaned when it is moved away from the wall. Why am I telling you this? Because Passover is just over three weeks away, and I want to remember that while much of our preparation for Passover Continue Reading »
by Audrey Lichter Having just returned from nearly a month of travel in India and Portugal, I had intended to write about the historical experiences of their Jewish communities. In India, Jews lived peacefully among their Hindu neighbors for centuries. They built beautiful synagogues and prospered in the land. The ancient community of the Cochin Continue Reading »
by Kendra Walz In a little over a week, the Jewish holiday of Purim will arrive; a holiday about Jews and Persians, self-expression in identity, and survival. As Purim approaches, I cannot help but reflect on a film premiere I attended recently at the Israeli Film Festival held at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. The film Continue Reading »
by Jennifer Saber With a heavy sigh, I let my phone drop into my lap. I caught myself red-handed doomscrolling. Again. I feel deflated, like my self-esteem just took another virtual beating. Just now my Facebook feed served up the winner of an award I didn’t win, a family vacation my family would never take, Continue Reading »
By Rabbi Debra Smith This is definitely a month to think about trees and the environment. We recently celebrated Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees. This has gotten me to think about what a favorite or memorable tree story might be for me. I have always loved trees, and moving to Florida, I’ve Continue Reading »
By Nina Fondiller Woldin It was 11 degrees when I woke up this morning. I can stand on the ice in New York Harbor, but today I am celebrating the beginning of spring! Not because I am counting the days until the ice thaws, but because, like Yehudah Halevi, my heart is in the east. Continue Reading »
by Nina Fondiller Woldin It’s 4:30 in the morning, and I am wide awake! I am enveloped, like a cloud, in worry. I visit different solutions in my head, but none of them guarantee success. All of them remind me of how I could have done better – planned better, reacted better, solved my problem Continue Reading »
By Jennifer Saber I live with regret. A 35 plus year old regret. When I was in elementary school, my childhood synagogue, Park Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio, loaded up buses and headed to Washington, D.C. for an event connected to Soviet Jewry. All these years later, what I remember most is not the cause, which Continue Reading »
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