fbpx
[additional-authors]
September 2, 2026

One of my favorite things about gathering people for my show, are the hundreds of friendships that have developed with people all over the world.

Linda Royal took the effort to send me her best selling novel “The Star on the Grave” all the way from Australia, and both my wife Adi and myself are excited to read about Chiune Sugihara, a hero and tzaddik in Japan who saved thousands of Jewish lives during WW2/the Holocaust.

If that’s not enough of a reason to order the book, how about the fact that in spite of winning awards and selling out in Australia, the book was mostly rejected by American publishers and bookstores because it’s… “too Jewish.” One publisher even suggested removing the Star of David from the cover. You know, the yellow star that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis, shouldn’t be on a book about… Jews being saved from Nazis. I know Australia is the land down under, but right now the entire world seems like it’s flat out upside down.

Thank you my friend Linda, and I’m excited for the impending introduction to the last surviving son of Sugihara himself, seen here holding her book!

Buy it on Amazon, and encourage people to carry it: https://a.co/d/04WCftxI

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Boaz Hepner (@hepner.boaz)


Boaz Hepner works as a Registered Nurse in Saint John’s Health Center. He moonlights as a podcaster, leading a large, friendly, bipartisan gathering on Zoom, allowing everyone to speak freely, just as if they were at a Shabbat table. He is a Pico/Robertson native, where he has led an annual neighborhood cleanup since 2009. He enjoys spending time with his wife Adi and children Natalia and Liam, and pursuing his passions of movies, poker and traveling.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Hanging Out at the Jewish American Summit

Among the speakers, Adam Milstein, a real estate investor, philanthropist and co-founder of the fast-growing Impact Forum, urged attendees to frame antisemitism as an American issue and not just a Jewish issue.

A Festive French Roast

One of my favorite things to cook for the Jewish holidays is a beautiful French roast. It’s so very festive and is perfect to feed a hungry crowd.

The Genius of the Marx Brothers

Like the greatest satirists, such as Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain, they chose comedy over accusation to mock the folly of society and add levity to dark times. But their aim was not levity alone.

AKLA Rises

From a Local Experiment to a National Program: AKLA Expands Its Vision for Jewish Teens

Better Kisser Than a Cook

Sometimes love arrives ahead of you, in spite of you. Cooking slowly became a way of being there for the people I love. A wordless language that says: I see you. I hear you. You’re worth the onion-chopping.

Israel’s Brain-Drain Debate Is Asking the Wrong Question

If an experienced professional with rare expertise leaves Israel, the impact cannot be understood simply by adding another person to a brain-drain statistic. The more relevant question is how many people with comparable experience remain, how essential that expertise is and how easily it can be rebuilt.

A New Borscht Belt?

If renewed exclusion teaches us only to become more protective of Jewish work, we will have learned the wrong lesson from the original Borscht Belt.

Judaism as a Covenant for the Ages

Given the realities of our current time, we are more in need than ever of the depth, wisdom, and joy that Jewish tradition offers.

A Summit to Remember

Our shared stories of hatred, humiliation, oppression and slavery obligate us to show up for one another.

Old-Guard Dems Pushing Back

While it’s indisputable that younger and progressive voters are driving the party away from its historic support for Israel, the old-guard Zionist Democrats have made it clear that they will not surrender without a fight.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.