Mark Oppenheimer, an author of five books and a freelance writer, recently wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in response to the Texas synagogue hostage-taking saying that that anti-Semitism present in today’s America only targets those who wish to practice Judaism or look identifiably Jewish. Fifty years ago, Jews were experiencing prejudice across […]
For most of elementary school, I was the only Jewish girl in a class of over eighty kids. There were a couple of Jewish boys. While I was secular during my childhood, everyone in school knew I was a Jew. A neighbor called me a “Jewish jerk” and made guttural noises one day to explain that […]
Last week, a Sephardic member of our shul (synagogue) asked me which Middle Eastern country my family comes from. “None,” I explained, “We’re Ashkanazi.” “Really?” he exclaimed, “I was certain you were Sephardic.” After this encounter, I got to thinking: despite being completely Ashkanazi, with both sides of my family hailing from Ukraine, Russia and […]
I just realized that if you want to be a passable Jew, you better de-Jewify. If you want to be a Jew that is tolerated, you better not be too Jewish, for there is a harm in being too Jewish. I’ve known for quite some time that the media and much of the secular world […]
From Roman invaders And Hellenist Greeks From violent Crusaders Those days were so bleak From Inquisitors in Spain And Nazis of Reich three Cossacks in Russia And then the KGB But not in New York, Toronto, or LA. Not in London, Lima, or Paris, we won’t hide today. The world woke up to […]
Instead of debating the merits (or lack there of) of the Senate Impeachment trial yesterday, most of Twitter was abuzz with a far more important topic: why President Trump’s Orthodox Jewish lawyer, David Schoen, put his hand on his head every time he drank water. No one knows the exact reason. Schoen normally wears a […]
