On Friday, Sept. 28, at the end of one of the busier non-war, non-natural-disaster U.S. news weeks in some time, BuzzFeed.com responded to what it saw as extreme news fatigue among American readers. As a public service, the news site republished a story...
When my friend and coauthor, Keith Lawrence, and I were doing the research for our book, Your Retirement Quest, we identified what we came to call, the “10 key elements of a fulfilling retirement.” Having read every retirement book we could get our...
As the current president of Kesher Israel Congregation in this city’s Georgetown neighborhood, I write to correct erroneous and unsupported statements about Kesher that were made in a JTA op-ed by Loribeth Weinstein, the CEO of Jewish Women International.In...
During the summer break, my wife and I saw “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a documentary about the life of Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers. It was a break also from the constant yelling and screaming we hear around us today, not only in our individual...
Indeed, we and our Jewish community have sinned.We have become guilty of ignoring pleas of detained and separated families; instead, we have prioritized personal and political comfort in our homes and synagogues. Though we have historically survived from...
Don’t shut door on refugeesI applaud the actions of HIAS and the ADL in speaking out against President Trump’s reduction in the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States next year (“Jewish groups criticize decision to cut number of...
(Marco Verch/Flickr)NEW YORK (JTA) — Diversity and inclusion have become watchwords in our Jewish community, and rightly so. In the past few decades, we have considered how our congregations and institutions can better serve the needs of various populations,...
U.S. should lead in solving global health crisis Decades of political neglect means almost 5,000 people die daily of tuberculosis (TB). This centuries-old epidemic is now the world’s leading infectious killer, claiming more lives last year than HIV/AIDS...
Editor's note: This commentary is part of a new Point-Counterpoint series in the Light. Read Galit Lev Harir's counterpoint commentary here.Many in the American Jewish community as well as in the Israeli Jewish community were encouraged and even delighted...
Editor's note: This commentary is part of a new Point-Counterpoint series in the Light. Read Robert Gerchen's counterpoint commentary here.On May 14, President Donald Trump officially moved the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv....
Special session on Rosh Hashanah shows continuing need for awareness, sensitivityOn Aug. 30, 2018, I received an email from the acting majority floor leader informing the legislature and staff that Gov. Mike Parson was expected to call an extraordinary...
By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
• Published September 13, 2018
Two weeks ago, an early-morning text heralded the tragic news that my dear friend, Stan Jacobs, had finally lost his long battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.The memorial service drew a capacity crowd. Everyone who knew Stan adored him. And I...
