By Robin Jacobson. Which three persons, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? The New York Times Book Review regularly asks this question in interviews. After reading Georgetown Law professor Brad Snyder’s fascinating biography, Democratic Justice: Felix Frankfurter, the Supreme Court, and the Making of the Liberal Establishment, I propose Justice Felix …
The Covid Task Force continues to meet as needed and reviews local rates of infection, hospitalization, and community spread, as well as changes to both CDC recommended protocols and local guidelines. As we look toward celebrating the High Holidays and the return of children to both BEPS and BERS classrooms, the following policies apply: Masks …
“I love when people sing along,” Noah Rosner reflected, in a heartfelt close to November’s Yedid Nefesh Friday Night Service. More than sixty voices sang the familiar melodies of Kabbalat Shabbat. The chapel brimmed with warmth and connection. Love was the theme of the evening, inspired by the first words of the opening prayer, which …
By Robin Jacobson. With 20/20 historical hindsight, it can be unbearable to read stories of European Jews in the 1930s who turned down opportunities to flee Europe. If only we could reach back in time and insist that they start packing. Tragically, they didn’t know then what we know now about the danger, destruction, and …
By Robin Jacobson. My pharmacist dad reveled in books about epic breakthroughs in medicine and science. On my bookshelf, I found his copy of The Double Helix (1968), a memoir by James Watson of his discovery with Francis Crick of the structure of DNA, a feat for which they won a Nobel Prize in 1962. This discovery …
By Robin Jacobson. Israeli author Omer Friedlander, only 28 years old, made a stunning entrance onto the literary stage this past spring. Big-name publisher Random House published his debut short story collection, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land, and announced that it would also publish Friedlander’s upcoming novel. To add to the …
By Robin Jacobson. Early Shabbat morning, October 16, 1943, Nazi soldiers stormed Jewish neighborhoods in Rome, rounding up terrified Jews. They imprisoned them for two days in a military college near the Vatican before dispatching over 1,000 Jews to Auschwitz. Famously, Pope Pius XII made no protest. Two fascinating new books look at this moment in …
By Robin Jacobson. On October 6, 1973, air raid sirens shattered the solemn quiet of Yom Kippur afternoon in Israel. Egypt and Syria had launched a two-front surprise attack. Within a few days, Israeli casualties were skyrocketing, and the state had lost alarming numbers of planes and tanks. Fearing for Israel’s survival, Minister of Defense …
I lived in Jerusalem for Cantorial school in 2003 and let’s just say I love it. The sounds of calls to prayer, the sights of people walking to shul with their tallesim already on and the smells. I missed the smell of the place. The sweet smell of the culinary offerings along Emek Rfaim mixed …
By Robin Jacobson. As I write this, Ukraine remains under siege. News programs feature a nightly parade of diplomats, retired generals, and political historians speculating about a new global world order, comparing and contrasting today’s state of affairs with the Cold War period. For young people (ages 10-14) curious about the Cold War, three outstanding …
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