By Robin Jacobson. The legendary “Shootout at the O.K. Corral” looms large in tales of the American West. On October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona, lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, together with their friend Doc Holliday, faced down some shady local ranchers near the O.K. Corral. Thirty seconds later, only Wyatt Earp was still …
By Robin Jacobson. Among the treasures of the Jewish people are folktales – told and retold for hundreds of years across the different continents where Jews have wandered. The tales are for all ages, but children’s authors have adapted many into captivating picture books. Our library is lucky to have a large children’s folklore collection …
By Robin Jacobson. Why read biographies? When I googled that question, all kinds of responses popped up, some grand and lofty, others more prosaic. But whether you read biographies “to stand on the shoulders of giants” or whether (like me) you find that the life stories of famous persons offer an easy, entertaining way to …
Boker Tov. I continue to share my more favorite or IMHO more important It’s Wednesday columns as the retirement looms. The year 2013 – 2014 began with Jefferson, continued with many columns on the Pew Survey of American Jews, dabbled in the life and thinking of Albert Einstein, and included the announcement of that very retirement. …
By Robin Jacobson. Around the world, Torah scrolls will unfurl this May to the concluding portions of Leviticus (Vayikra) and then reach Numbers (Bamidbar). And, just in time, Torah scholars Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Dr. Avivah Zornberg have published new commentaries on Leviticus and Numbers, to the delight of their legions of fans. Look for …
Boker Tov. I continue to focus on my more favorite or IMHO more important It’s Wednesday columns as the retirement looms. The year 2010 – 2011 was our Israel theme year and there was plenty about that, but the most provocative column – based on your responses – was about the Intel Science Talent Search. You …
Boker Tov. I was kidding about retiring. April Fools! I now continue with some of my more favorite or important columns, this one from September 2008. I was very clever in 2008-2009, been downhill since. I have at least six of those columns that I would love to share but maybe you will get two. Speak …
By Robin Jaconbson. Every family has its story. We are shaped by our family’s story – or what we think is our family’s story. This theme runs through two compelling new books about a woman’s journey (one imagined and one real) to understand her family’s past. Don’t miss congregant Michelle Brafman’s Washing the Dead or …
Boker Tov. The Israeli elections have not (yet) produced a clear winner. I can understand that a more right leaning government may be formed, given what Israel sees on almost every border, but I have also pretty much lost confidence in Netanyahu’s leadership. We shall see. Last Wednesday I announced the morphing of this column as …
By Robin Jacobson. In the literary world, Soviet Jews are everywhere. The last year alone saw such a bumper crop of novels and memoirs by Soviet Jewish émigrés that the Forward named 2014 “the Year of the Soviet Jew.” Two of my favorites from this émigré genre are The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis and A …
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