He asked them “Who is called a ‘wise man’?” They responded to him, “The person who sees the consequence of their action.” (Babylonian Talmud 32a)
(JTA) — Many years ago I was asked to speak, on short notice, at a symposium in Geneva...
(JNS) In the current poisonous political atmosphere, many accusations are made by the right and left, each asserting the other is most responsible for all evil in the world. This is equally true regarding campuses. As with so much political rhetoric,...
Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA
• Published August 7, 2022
(JTA) — Ah, summertime. A season to take a plunge in a mountain lake, read a trashy novel on the beach and reenact a historical tragedy through a month-long pageant of self-denial and fasting.
Wait, what?
If you don’t associate summer with...
Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA
• Published August 4, 2022
(JTA) — Here’s a story I recently shared on Facebook: I was paddling my inflatable kayak on a lake in the Berkshires. Granted, it is not the sleekest or coolest-looking conveyance, but it gets the job done and it fits in the trunk of my car. At one...
Betsy Schmidt, Special For The Jewish Light
• Published August 4, 2022
We have all been through so much these past 2 years. Not just Covid, but multiple mass shootings, racial and political tensions, the economy, and the destruction caused by changing weather patterns. Loss of life and place, loss of our daily life-patterns,...
CATHLEEN KRONEMER, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published August 3, 2022
Tu B'Av, a relatively minor Jewish holiday, finds a place in modern Israel as a holiday of love.
Considered a romantic Jewish holiday, even secular observers see Tu B’Av as the Jewish equivalent of Valentine’s Day. Couples often plan their weddings,...
MIMI DAVID, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published July 20, 2022
Yael was a recent college graduate looking for her first teaching job in Israel. She finally found a position she thought she would enjoy, teaching beginner Hebrew skills to new Israeli immigrants in an ulpan. Nervous but confident in her creative classroom...
Reader’s response to Rochester column
I strongly disagree with the recent commentary by Professor Marty Rochester on Ukraine (“Some predictions about a post-Ukraine War world,” June 22). His commentary advocates a Neville Chamberlin approach to...
(JTA) – Back in December, human beings, a weird variety of uniquely frail, lithe and hairless monkeys, launched into space a new, $10 billion dollar telescope, 21 feet in diameter and, like many great temples, covered with golden mirrors.
The James Webb...
AMHERST, Massachusetts (JTA) — Josh Dolgin, the Canadian rapper and klezmer musician who performs as Socalled, was nearing the end of a raucous, crowd-pleasing set last Sunday when he paused to introduce a Yiddish song about a frog, “Di Frosh.”
“It’s...
BY FAITH SCHWARTZ COMENSKY
• Published July 14, 2022
I’ve been going to Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City visiting the graves of my family’s ancestors for decades. Sadly, in more recent times, my husband and I visit the graves of some of our immediate family as well.
I’ve always been...
(JTA) — I have long been a keeper of women’s stories, many of which relate to fertility and reproductive choices, experiences generally shrouded in secrecy. While I am honored to be trusted with these personal accounts, I look forward to, and am...
