In April 2023, my family was in Spain for Pesach, which is breathtaking in its landscape and architecture and rich in its history. From the moment we got off the plane, I felt a heaviness, contemplating what was done to my ancestors in this place. As far as I know, I am not Sephardic, but […]
We are not supposed to ask to be tested according to Jewish tradition. We learn this from King David who erred by asking for a test. It’s uncomfortable to see good coming out of unimaginable evil, but it seems to be how God created our world. We didn’t ask for October 7 – we’d give […]
There’s no doubt that the thwarting of the hijacking of the FlyDubai flight to Israel yesterday. But I noticed perhaps one more message from God that should bring us comfort in these troubling times.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Upon looking for an image for this piece, our initial search was for blood splatter, but we kept coming across blood stained flowers. That set off an alarm, and we looked up their meaning. Apparently, blood stained flowers symbolize the martyrs of resistance. While we can’t be sure of this connection in the music […]
In the last couple of weeks, the Jewish community has debated the merit or mistake of bringing streamer Clavicular (a known abuser of women and alleged rapist) on a public trip to Israel. Sadly, he is not the first person to get a platform in our community, despite his abuse being known (by at least […]
Twenty-two years ago director Gidi Dar did something groundbreaking. He was part of a team that brought Ushpizin, a positive, nuanced, authentic depiction of Hasidic Jews to Tribeca. Ushpizin gave way to films like Rama Burshtein’s Fill The Void, shows like Shtisel and somewhat mainstreamed the idea that Hasidic and Haredi Jews are human, worthy […]
