When I was a little boy, my parents gave me a book called The Jew in American Sports. It was filled with sagas about Hank Greenberg and Sid Luckman and some low-weight boxing champs -- big names, but from an era even before my youth. I was part of that generation where our parents would point out significant Jews everywhere...
The whirlwind that follows tragedy is often a bewildering state that leaves us bereft of any structure, any sense of knowing or comfort. As our kishkes turn inside out longing for our loved ones and for the way it was, we eventually mourn and then learn how to move on. While I have counseled this professionally for many years, the...
I have no patience for survival Judaism. Whenever I hear someone talk about what Jews must do in order to "survive," I head for the door. Joel Alperson, whose piece "Tikkun Olam May Feel Good But It Doesn't Build Community" was published in the Aug. 4 Jewish Exponent), joins the long list of Jewish leaders offering a formula for survival...
In mid-June, The Nation published an article by a young alumna of Birthright Israel, the organization that since 1999 has sent 260,000 young Diaspora Jews (including this writer) on free 10-day tours of the Jewish state. In "The Romance of Birthright Israel," Kiera Feldman, a 2008 graduate of Brown, marshals anecdotal evidence and a sprinkling of recent critical literature to...
At least a portion of my hometown of Omaha, Neb., may well be under water soon. Pumps are in place at various locations, including at a nuclear power plant not far from town. The Missouri River, which borders our city, has risen to dangerous levels. Some Omaha residents have taken to sandbagging to help reinforce critical locations along the river...
Sivan 15, 5773
