David Suissa is Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Tribe Media/Jewish Journal, where he has been writing a weekly column on the Jewish world since 2006. In 2015, he was awarded first prize for "Editorial Excellence" by the American Jewish Press Association. Prior to Tribe Media, David was founder and CEO of Suissa Miller Advertising, a marketing firm named “Agency of the Year” by USA Today. He sold his company in 2006 to devote himself full time to his first passion: Israel and the Jewish world. David was born in Casablanca, Morocco, grew up in Montreal, and now lives in Los Angeles with his five children.
A friend sent me an e-mail telling me I \”can\’t miss\” this Jerusalem rabbi\’s one-man show Sunday night at Beth Jacob Congregation. I opened the e-mail a few minutes before show time, so, on a whim, I ran over to catch \”The Four Faces of Israel,\” starring Rabbi Benji Levene. After two hours of Benji, my head was spinning.
During a Shabbat dinner, I blurted out the idea that maybe we ought to \”marry first and date later.\” Not literally, of course, but in terms of how we approach both dating and marriage.
As we walked back from shul on a recent Shabbat, my friend and neighbor David Myers asked me if I was \”comfortable\” with the service we had just attended.
As I reflected later on my Yemenite moment in time, I couldn\’t help but think of all the traditions that so many Jewish communities throughout the world are fighting to maintain. There are countless variations of Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions that have their own melodies, their own chants, their own ways. We all read the same words, but after that, we\’re allowed to tweak. It\’s as if God gave us the consonants, and then said: \”Have fun with the vowels.\”
…I noticed that my hosts were talking about something called the third ear. It sounded like worn-out hippie schmaltz – this notion of tapping into our \”third ear energy\” to bring more harmony into our lives, and to the world.
In a brilliant article in Haaretz, Moshe Arens explains why you can\’t deter terrorists, you can only fight them. It\’s time for Jews of all stripes to get their mojo back, and join the PR fight.
If there\’s one subject that can spark a juicy debate among lovers of Israel, it is what to do with these millions of Jesus-loving evangelical Christians who love Israel to death.\n
What I did not expect was to get a phone call from one of the city\’s illustrious Orthodox rabbis defending the magical, mystical, community-building power of … the cheesecake.
But unlike Rosh Hashanah — which has the irresistible attraction of a new year and a new beginning — and other holidays that have their own attractions, Shavuot seems to miss that special sizzle that could engage mainstream Judaism.
In the spiritual realm, they tell you there are no coincidences — everything that happens to us holds a divine message. What could be the message in this unusual sequence of events: a little barbecue party for two young girls who were caught in a Jerusalem bombing, followed by a masterful presentation on the final days of global redemption?\n
