Yesterday I was invited to a rare Los Angeles performance by Nashville musician Elizabeth Cook at Hotel Cafe, a cozy and friendly spot in Hollywood. Elizabeth has a strong voice and most appealing stage presence, but her gritty lyrics reveal a woman who has been through the fire and survived. She played songs from her new album, Exodus of Venus, which comes out soon. Most enjoyable!
What will define the Jewish future is not antisemitism but how we respond to it. Embracing our Maccabean spirit would be a good start.
As the publisher and co-founder of Random House, Bennett Cerf was one of the most important figures in 20th-century culture and literature.
As Matti Friedman demonstrates in his riveting new book, one of Israel’s greatest legends is also riddled with mysteries and open questions.
The book is not a single narrative but a novel of interconnected stories, each laced with irony, poignancy, and hilarity.
Forgiving someone on behalf of a community that is not yours is not forgiveness. It is opportunism dressed up as virtue.
Although institutional change can be slow, Jewish organizations fighting antisemitism have made progress…Critics may have some legitimate concerns about mission drift — but this is solved with accountability, not defunding.
The transmission of these bureka recipes from generation to generation is a way of retaining heritage and history in Sephardic communities around the world.
There is nothing like spreading a soft blanket out in the shade and enjoying some delicious food with friends and family.
Israelis must become King David Jews, fighting when necessary while building a glittering Zion. Diaspora Jews must become Queen Esther Jews. Fit in. Prosper. Decipher your foreign lands’ cultural codes. But be literate, proud, brave Jews.
No one should underestimate the difficulty of the past few years. But what will define us is not the level or nature of the problem but how we deal with it.
Before Israel’s week of Remembrance and Independence, it is proper to reflect on the inherent tension between dreams and their realization.
His message of love — hopeful, expansive, humane — inspired genuine moral progress. It fostered hope that humanity might ultimately converge toward those ideals. In too many parts of the world, that expectation collided with societies that did not share those assumptions.
Just as the Torah concludes with the people about to enter the Promised Land, leaders are successful when the connections we make reveal within us the humility to encounter the Infinite.
It is made of humility, forged from the understanding that even with all our strengths, we desperately need one another.
We should not be surprised that conspiratorial antisemitism has reemerged in the current circumstances. But there is a deep reason that ties it specifically to the right.
With God’s help, as Israel heads into its Independence Day celebration, the Jewish state will continue in its mission of serving as a source of wisdom and inspiration for its minority groups and nations throughout the globe.
After early sold-out shows in Los Angeles, the series has grown into a touring format with stops planned across several cities.
The task now is not only to honor the past, but to learn from it and build something worthy of it.
