“The media spouts hate against the Jews,” Loay Alshareef shares with Allison Josephs on the latest Jew in the City Speaks podcast episode. “They depict Jews in a very negative way. Jews have fangs, Jews are evil, Jews are conspiring against Muslims.” Alshareef grew up with that messaging every day. So, it’s a bit surprising […]
Florida, North Carolina, New York, Georgia…each day it seems like a different state is reporting antisemitism— numbers are increasing rapidly. We just marked Yom HaShoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — a time devoted to ensuring a terror even remotely in that realm doesn’t happen again. With stories percolating that feel eerie, much like pre-Holocaust times, the possibility […]
Dear Jew in the City- Are all Jews meant to be in Israel right now, or in general before Moshiach comes? And if we are, is that said to make his arrival come faster? – Eden Dear Eden, Thanks for your question. For an answer, I’m going to give a qualified “no.” The concept you’re […]
Mazi Pilip is a county legislator in Nassau County. She and Allison connected at an End Jew Hatred event. Ethiopian-born, Mazi was a participant in Operation Solomon (1991) as a child, which airlifted 14,000 Ethiopian Jews in jumbo jets to Israel. She moved to the United States in adulthood. Ethiopian Jews have a rich history […]
For far too long, the stories of persecution against the Jewish people have been brushed aside as exaggerations or even complete falsehood. Despite Antiochus IV Epiphane having been a real historical figure — as is the Hasmonean War — there are elements of the Chanukah story which have been met with skepticism. That is now […]
Dear Jew in the City, Why is Jerusalem so special to the Jewish people? Sincerely, Michelle Dear Michelle, Thanks for your question. I could start the story of Jerusalem with the creation of the world (see, for example, Bereishis Rabbah 14:8, cited by Rashi on Genesis 2:7) or with Avraham (Jerusalem being where the akeidah […]
