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“Buildings at Columbia and nearby Barnard College continue to be taken over by masked protestors, with their heads wrapped in keffiyehs, just as they were a year ago,” writes Valerie Gerstein, a recent graduate of the university’s nonprofit management master’s program and part of a Title VI lawsuit against the school.
But, she adds: “By advocating for myself, I am showing my daughters—and their friends—how to respond to indoctrination from professors and to conversations about Jews that are inappropriate in their future classrooms.”
16 UNITY WITHOUT UNIFORMITY
By Ashira Boxman
“As we celebrate the giving of the Torah on the holiday of Shavuot,” writes rabbinic candidate Ashira Boxman in an adapted excerpt from Young Zionist Voices: A New Generation Speaks Out , “my prayer for the Jewish community is to lead with openness, to remain present with the sacred beings before us, to cultivate growth through listening and engagement, to embrace difference, to transcend judgment with kindness and to replace assumptions with understanding.”
20 ‘LET THE TRUTH COME OUT’
Aloni/Flash90.
DEPARTMENTS
12 COMMENTARY
Chesed breeds tzedek
32 TRAVEL
Summer in Salzburg and Graf
36 FOOD
Canadian Jewish foodies
40 ARTS
October 8 unreels alarming rise in Jew hatred
44 BOOKS
• Talmud tales in The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic
• Rabbi Irving G reenberg’s The Triumph of Life
• A busking rebbe in The Last Dekrepitzer
By Maayan Hoffman
Some families of female observer soldiers murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, are not just grieving—they’re angry. Their fury has grown as reports from the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet reveal a series of security failures leading up to the attacks. Their pain is also sharpened by the return of five of their daughters’ fellow soldiers from Hamas captivity in late January in a hostage deal that marked a time of joy for other families and the nation, and a brutal reminder that their daughters will never come home. facebook.com/hadassahmag
A Virtuous Circle
Nationhood, nurturing and Jewish ethical foundations
By Carol Ann Schwartz
This year, yom ha’atzmaut, or Israel’s Independence Day, falls on May 1, and Mother’s Day on May 11. And though it may not be readily apparent, the concepts at the core of the two holidays—national sovereignty and motherhood—are intricately bound.
Mother’s Day was established in the United States in 1914, but its origins are directly traceable to the Mothers’ Day Work Clubs initiated by social activist and community organizer Ann Jarvis to improve sanitation in Civil War military camps, where typhoid and other diseases spread rapidly.
Today, more than 100 nations observe Mother’s Day in May. Israel is not among them—and therein lies a Hadassah story. Henrietta Szold’s public health activism was akin to that of Ann Jarvis. When our founder arrived in Jerusalem for the first time, in 1909, she was both horrified and motivated by the severity of the diseases—typhoid, malaria and especially the constant buzzing of flies around the eyes of children, a mark of trachoma—that she witnessed.
Three years later, she founded Hadassah and went on to launch the medical mission that built the foundations of what would become Israel’s national health care system. In the process, she thrust women into leadership roles in the Zionist movement, ensuring that it would not be an exclusively male domain.
In the 1930s, already in her 70s, she took the helm of Youth Aliyah, the movement to shelter and educate
refugee Jewish children from Nazi Germany—and eventually refugee and immigrant youth from everywhere. Over time, thousands of children came to regard Szold, who never had children of her own, as a revered mother figure.
WE HAVE BEEN THE ENABLERS OF WOMEN’S EQUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES, IN THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY AND IN MODERN ISRAEL.
When Israel gained independence in 1948, many in the country were familiar with the concept of Mother’s Day, but there was debate over when it should be observed. The issue was resolved in 1951, when 11-yearold Nechama Frankel wrote a letter to the Ha’aretz newspaper suggesting the holiday honor the memory of Szold. The idea took hold. Though the festive day’s name has since been broadened to the more inclusive Family Day, it continues to be observed on the 30th of Shevat, Szold’s yahrzeit, which usually comes in January or February.
More than a century after our organization’s founding, members of Hadassah— whether they have many children or none—are proud of our record as a
women’s movement that played an essential role in birthing a nation. We are proud of our advocacy for women’s rights and equally proud of upholding the healing, nurturing and maternal dimensions of our Zionism. We have been the enablers of women’s equality in the United States, in the American Jewish community and in modern Israel.
Since October 7, 2023, Hadassah has been at the forefront of fighting for justice for the victims of Hamas, pressing the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other world bodies to recognize, condemn and struggle against not only terrorism but also the weaponization of sexual violence.
And as we have defended Israel’s national existence and its right and responsibility of self-defense, the Hadassah Medical Organization has been a key player in the treatment and rehabilitation of soldiers and civilians injured in the Gaza war.
Enemies and critics notwithstanding, Israel continues to be a light unto the nations. And that status is written into the Jewish calendar as well. On the evening of June 1, we will begin the celebration of Shavuot, which commemorates, among other things, the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Shavuot closes a monthlong circle that encompasses not only nationhood and nurturing but also the Jewish ethical foundation that has had an enormous influence on all humanity.
If I have one wish at this moment, it is that the priorities at the center of these observances continue to permeate our hearts long after the holidays have ended.
B’yachad Nerapeh.
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and war ensued, Hadassah responded immediately. The threat to Israel has escalated to include aggression from Hezbollah and Iran. Hadassah’s hospitals must now expand capacity to treat mass casualties and serve as a strong wartime asset to the people of Israel. Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah villages must continue to provide safe haven to students.
We cannot do this without you. Together we will heal. B’yachad Nerapeh.
HOW YOU CAN HELP HEAL THE WORLD
GANDEL REHABILITATION CENTER
Help us complete and fully equip the Gandel Rehabilitation Center to provide physical, occupational and speech therapies, as well as psychological services, for the wounded and other patients who will need long-term rehabilitation.
NEW OPERATING ROOMS AND ICU
Help outfit six new underground Operating Rooms, safe from conventional, chemical and biological attacks, and a crucial new Intensive Care Unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
YOUTH ALIYAH VILLAGES
Support our Meir Shfeyah and Hadassah Neurim Youth Aliyah villages, so they can provide critical psychological support and shelter for students and faculty. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT: hadassah.org/togetherwewillheal TO DONATE, PLEASE VISIT: go.hadassah.org/givetogether
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and inspiration amid the anxiety | By
friend of mine recently celebrated her 70th birthday with a second bat mitzvah, this time with a reading from the Torah, an act that had been denied her as a girl 58 years earlier. In her dvar Torah for the parsha Ki Tissa, the one in which Moses ascends Mount Sinai for the second time to receive the Ten Commandments, my friend Judi invoked both Moses and Martin Luther King Jr., two of the most inspiring leaders in history. Both, she noted, had “been to the mountaintop” at a time of great fear and anxiety yet saw the promise of what could be.
“Many of us have experienced hard moments in life and made it through to the other side,” Judi shared with her congregation. “And on our return from those hard experiences, from those mountaintops, we brought with us some hard-earned wisdom of how to move forward.”
We, too, live in chaotic and frightening times, and the search for true leadership and a way forward weighs heavily. As we approach Shavuot, the holiday that begins June 1 and celebrates the giving of the Torah that brought Moses to Mount Sinai, Rabbi Shira Stutman, in “Chesed Breeds Tzedek” (page 12), reminds us that each act of lovingkindess contributes to healing the broken world.
And in “Unity Without Uniformity” (page 16), Ashira Boxman reflects in a different way on how Moses’ experience on the mountaintop teaches valuable lessons for how Jews can and should interact with each other today.
Lisa Hostein
Speaking of leaders, mothers take center stage in this issue coinciding with Mother’s Day.
Whether you are a mother or are celebrating your own mother or the women in your life who are like mothers, you can learn from—and empathize with—the mothers featured in this issue.
Mothers like Edna Morel and Anat Glass, whose daughters were among the female observer soldiers slaughtered on October 7, 2023. As Maayan Hoffman reports in our cover story, “Let the Truth Come Out” (page 20), these women are still awaiting deeper answers to how their cherished children met such a brutal end.
Mothers like Valerie Gerstein, who chronicles her recent experience as a Columbia University graduate student and what she learned and taught her daughters about standing up against antisemitism (page 14).
Mothers like actor Idina Menzel, who speaks out about her new role playing a Jewish mother on Broadway (page 56).
And mothers like those portrayed in books reviewed in this issue (page 44) and online (hadassahmagazine. org/books) as well as legendary fictional ones featured in our crossword puzzle (page 43).
And for Shavuot, Adeena Sussman shares recipes for delectable dairy treats, this time from north of the border (page 36).
May Mother’s Day and the Shavuot holiday bring joy, reflection and inspiration in these trying times. Chag sameach!
Mother’sHappyDay!
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It was disquieting for me to read “Armed and Ready” in the March/ April 2025 issue. I have zero issues with the Second Amendment, legal gun ownership and gun clubs that meet at shooting ranges to practice and socialize. And why not Jewish gun ownership and gun clubs?
My objections lie with the reasons that most people interviewed gave for acquiring guns, let alone obtaining concealed carry permits—to protect themselves in the face of complacency and the “bad guys,” they all claim.
But how many of them listen to instructor Robbie Tarnove, who has bona fide questions of prospective gun owners? How many of them would be capable of properly defending themselves and their congregation if faced with life-threatening situations? How many of them would shoot first and then ask questions, having to potentially live with the guilt of taking innocent lives?
Why not have a security firm, properly licensed, vetted and employed by houses of worship?
Paula Zevin
Somerset,
N.J.
Working in the emergency room and seeing what gunshot wounds really look like and what a bullet does to a human body have convinced me to be totally against the random carrying of firearms. Suppose there were a shooter in a mall—the very thought of everyone pulling out a gun and
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
Please email letters to the editor to letters@hadassah.org . To read more letters, visit us online at hadassahmagazine.org
shooting randomly would lead to more bloodshed and death than is even imaginable.
Lee Blotner Metairie, La.
I have been a gun enthusiast for 35 years. In that time, I have met few Jews who agree with me about guns. When I started target-pistol shooting, I learned of the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, which at that time was based in Milwaukee and managed by a Holocaust survivor. They remain unique Jewish advocates for the Second Amendment.
After reading about Bullets & Bagels, one could get the idea that Jews are now ready to take the initiative in personal protection. Unfortunately, merely owning a weapon and shooting a few rounds at the gun range doesn’t ensure that an individual understands the awesome responsibility of using a gun in self-defense.
I wish the day will come when my co-religionists understand that gun control is not the solution. Supporting the Second Amendment might be more helpful.
Edward Fink Cranston, R.I.
MORE ON ADHD
I am a retired pediatrician who over 45 years of practice treated hundreds of children and adolescents with ADD and ADHD. I would like to make two comments about the March/April article “Israel, America and ADHD.”
The theory that the stress of living in Israel is responsible for the spike in diagnoses of ADHD in that country is a bit nonspecific given that most if not all medical, neurological and psychiatric disorders are generally made worse by stress. Hypertension,
diabetes, stuttering and anxiety would be a few common examples. Secondly, though I do agree that there is an increased incidence of dementia in adult ADHD patients, it should be noted that there is also an association (not a direct causeand-effect relationship) between long-term stimulant therapy and degenerative neurologic disorders such as Lewy Body Dementia. Therefore, continuous treatment with stimulant medication is not necessarily protective against such a catastrophic outcome.
Malcolm Davidson, M.D., F.A.A.P. Dallas, Tex.
SHARING A ‘MOUTHFUL’
As my husband and I read the March/April issue, we were drawn immediately to the cover article, “An Ethiopian Mouthful From Beejhy Barhany.” We love to cook together, so we decided to make Barhany’s Doro Wot and Ya Fassikah Kita along with a papaya soup using her Kulat soup base for a recent Shabbat dinner. We were blown away by the flavor!
Thank you, chef, for sharing your culture and community and making us appreciate the variety and tastes of Jewish people worldwide.
Dvora and Dveed DeAngélis Cleveland, Tex.
BULLETS & BAGELS
A Jewish gun club for shooting and schmoozing
FOOD AND FAMILY
In the kitchen with a star EthiopianIsraeli-American chef
A Year of Giving Back for Those 50-Plus
Teenagers are no longer the only Israelis dedicating a year of their lives to volunteering.
“We are harnessing the expertise of the over-50 population and putting them to good use to rebuild Israeli communities and resilience,” said Jane Levy, head of fundraising for Shnat Sherut 50 Plus. Launched last year, the program is modeled after Shnat Sherut, the year of volunteering that many Israeli high school graduates opt to undertake before compulsory military or national service.
Shnat Sherut 50 Plus is the brainchild of retired teacher and librarian Rina Cohen and consists of multiple teams of 22 skilled volunteers who live for a year in Gaza border communities severely affected by the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.
“This isn’t just about supporting others— it’s about redefining what our generation can achieve,” said Cohen, who volunteers with youth near Ofakim.
The program is operated by Elul, an associa -
tion that facilitates Jewish learning and discourse between observant, traditional and secular Israelis. Since September 2024, the teams have participated in high school tutoring, mentoring at-risk youth, documenting community histories, helping individuals navigate welfare and legal systems, assisting overwhelmed social workers, organizing holiday celebrations and providing physical therapy and mental health support in health care facilities.
“This program allows me to use my skills where they are needed most,” said Dr. Yaron Assaf, a retired family physician who offers elder wellness sessions and cognitive therapy for dementia patients.
One team stationed at hard-hit Kibbutz Kfar Aza began working in February to rehabilitate farms severely damaged by Hamas terrorists. Looking north, a new group is gearing up
to work in communities along the Lebanese border, facilitated by a contribution from the Boston-area Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
For now, only Hebrew-speaking Israeli volunteers are accepted. As the project grows in scope, Levy anticipates accommodating the many people from abroad seeking to take part.
Elul CEO Guy Gardi noted that funding for Shnat Sherut 50 Plus comes from more than 10 establishment Jewish organizations. Those donations translate, he said, to volunteers being able “to address the complex challenges faced by the communities we serve. Together, we are making a significant difference, demonstrating the power of collaboration and shared purpose.”
Jordana Benami
A Bag as Unique as Your Fingerprint
Rachel Bloom was at a bar one night while an undergraduate at Ohio State when she looked down to see that someone had opened her purse and stolen her
business. While still in college, Bloom did some research and learned that more than two million people in the United States every year get their phones stolen out of bags or pockets, “and those are just the people who have reported the incident,” she said, noting that a month after her incident, a friend was pickpocketed at a bar.
For a class project, Bloom presented the concept for a bag with a fingerprint-locking zipper that only the owner could access. A trip to Israel the summer after graduation, in 2018, further solidified her decision to make ultra-secure bags a professional project.
“I remember in Tel Aviv being extra cautious about my bag in busy areas like the Carmel Market and along Rothschild Boulevard,” Bloom said. “That trip reinforced how important it is to have a bag that provides both security and peace of mind.”
It took several years to design and test various prototypes, but now she has launched her eponymous company, Rachel Bloom. (She’s trademarked the name, which is not to be confused with the Rachel Bloom who is the creator and actor from the series C razy Ex-Girlfriend .)
Bloom’s line of bags, which includes crossbodies, totes and
backpacks in organically sourced pebbled leather, feature a slash-resistant inner lining, her patented fingerprint-locking zipper, pocket for an AirTag and optional GPS tracking for an extra cost. The bags range in price from $225 to $425, are charged with a USB cable and connect to an app so if one is lost, left behind or stolen, the owner can locate it. Bloom also founded a separate technology venture called Lock Us, which licenses her locking technology to be integrated into various products. “It can be put in luggage, briefcases, jewelry boxes,” she explained.
Rachel Bloom
Shnat Sherut 50 Plus volunteers cook breakfast for the elderly of the Eshkol region.
Saving the Rabbinic Library of Izmir
Izmir was home to one of the most renowned Jewish communities and rabbinic libraries in the Ottoman Empire. Now, despite Turkey’s increasingly hostile posture toward Israel and complicated relationship with its Jewish citizens, the ancient port city on Turkey’s Aegean coast is witnessing the rebirth of that library thanks to the efforts of Izmir-born Dina Eliezer.
In 1999, Eliezer, a Jewish educator from Philadelphia who grew up in Israel, was invited by Izmir community leader Sara Pardo to help start a Jewish education program for children. On the last day of Eliezer’s stay, Pardo brought her to Chacham Chane , the former headquar -
Bloom lives in Arlington, Va., with her husband, Matthew Tumen, and jokes that they have “an arranged marriage” since they were fixed up by their mothers. (Bloom’s mother, Julie Bloom, is the Dayton
ters of Izmir’s rabbinate. According to Eliezer, what she saw there broke her heart—a collapsing roof, water-stained walls, mold and rot everywhere, and hundreds of books in various states of decay.
Eliezer recalled turning to Pardo and saying, “You are murderers! This is the treasure of your community. Look what you’re doing to it.” She then moderated her tone and jumped in to help. “We have to get them out of here ASAP.”
Over the next five summers, Eliezer, who is a member of Hadassah, returned to Izmir to help clean and move the books to a room in the local Karatas Jewish hospital. In the process, she created a list of the more than 1,700 books that were salvageable, among them rabbinic responsa and collections of sermons. Several of them date to the 17th century, and over 450 include marginalia—notes handwritten in Ladino into the margins of the texts—from illustrious Izmir rabbis such as Yosef Escapa, Moshe Benveniste and Haim Palachi.
“These are books that the rabbis themselves studied with,” Eliezer said, noting that they also serve as windows into what was once one of the
most vibrant Jewish communities anywhere.
Still, the books sat in the hospital storage room for nearly two decades before Eliezer spearheaded the effort to turn the collection into a library. Eventually, with funding from the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe and the Kiriaty Foundation International, the books and their marginalia were digitized and made available on the website of Izmir’s Jewish community center. And in December 2024, 630 pages of text from various volumes became available through KTIV, a digital platform of the National Library of Israel.
Meanwhile, the physical collection at the Karatas hospital, managed by Turkish-Hebrew-English translator Yudit Sevinir, is now opened to visitors. Like Eliezer, Sevinir is an Izmir native who spent decades in Israel. Among the works she has translated from Hebrew into Turkish is Israeli author Aharon Appelfeld’s novel To the Edge of Sorrow .
“Thanks to Dina’s work,” Sevinir said, “the Izmir Jewish community now has an important part of its heritage available for generations to come.” — Avi Dresner
The preserved collection, located in an Izmir hospital
Dina Eliezer (left) and Yudit Sevinir
Handwritten notes known as marginalia appear alongside important text.
The complete line of Rachel Bloom bags
Chesed Breeds Tzedek
Kindness even in the worst of times
By Rabbi Shira Stutman
Iwant to tell you a story about a young woman named Rachel, who I mentor through the foster care system. Her life has been marked by instability—abandoned by her mother, adopted then placed back into the system by her adoptive parents, struggling with learning disabilities and emotional outbursts. Her whole life, she has been told, implicitly and explicitly, that she is a burden.
But then, every once in a while, there is chesed. This Hebrew word is often translated as “lovingkindness.” But chesed is more than just being nice. It means taking action—a courageous, imaginative commitment to showing up for others, especially in moments of vulnerability.
For Rachel, chesed may come from a staff member at her group home who drives her to Walmart so
she can buy something to brighten her drab room. Or a social worker who stays in touch even after being assigned to another case. Or a visit with my dog, Boaz, who gives her comfort. These are small acts, none of them life-changing on their own. But together they tell her: You are seen. You matter.
Traditional Jewish texts list chesed as one of the fundamental ways we repair the world. Chesed is not limited to grand gestures; it is found in the small, everyday ways we make each other’s lives better, acts such as visiting the sick, honoring parents, comforting mourners and making peace between people. It is what makes us human and what holds us together in a world that often feels like it is coming apart.
The news these days is chaos.
Every headline pulls us in a different direction—grief, anger, confusion, exhaustion. It’s easy to feel unmoored, like we’re wandering in the wilderness, with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
But Judaism reminds us that even in the worst times, we can still help others. There is a very famous line from Pirkei Avot 2:16 that is translated: “You do not have to complete the work, but neither are you ben chorin, free, to neglect it.”
Just last month, we sat at our seder tables and declared ourselves “ben chorin.” And, I realized, it is not true! If we take Pirkei Avot seriously, then we are not free to abdicate responsibility. Ba’al habayit dochek, the previous verse teaches, the master of the house is under tremendous pressure. And therefore, so are we.
In times of crisis, we are not free to retreat; we step forward, bringing whatever we have to offer: a meal, a donation, a hard conversation, a playdate with a pet. None of us can do everything, but all of us can do something. Judaism does not accept excuses. And each act contributes to healing the broken world.
One december, rachel found a broken Christmas tree on the street, brought it to her group home and decorated it for everyone to enjoy. Her simple act of care reminds us of something essential, something Judaism has always known and now scientific research has proven as well: chesed breeds chesed. Kindness is contagious, with acts of generosity inspiring others to behave similarly.
It might feel counterintuitive to focus on just one person when the entire world seems to be in turmoil. But caring for a single individual reminds us that behind every statistic,
headline or policy debate are human beings with real needs and struggles. When we help one person, we reaffirm our capacity for empathy and action, and we provide ourselves with the strength and clarity to continue addressing the broader challenges we face.
And our chesed does not need to end with an act between us and another. Instead, it can be a foundational building block for systemic change. When we regularly practice chesed, we sensitize ourselves to injustice and suffering, creating a ripple effect that can lead us to advocate for fairness and equity on a broader scale.
In other words, chesed need not only breed chesed; it can also breed tzedek, or justice. Each compassionate act can open our eyes more clearly to societal inequalities and motivate us toward actions that address root causes, not just symptoms.
There will always be children who need mentors as well as sick friends, hungry neighbors and mourners who need comfort. It is easy to feel paralyzed by the scale of the suffering. But we do not have to solve everything. We begin where we are. We build a more compassionate world by recognizing need and responding with action, no matter how small.
We offer a piece of ourselves, trusting that together, we are building something holy. To practice chesed is to resist the cynicism that tells us nothing we do matters. It is to insist that in a world of cruelty, we choose kindness. It is to build something sacred in the midst of the wilderness.
Brick by brick. Step by step. We bring what we can and together, we build.
Rabbi Shira Stutman is co-host of the PRX podcast Chutzpod! and author of the recently published The Jewish Way to a Good Life.
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When Mom Was a Columbia Student
Lessons
learned on campus reach children, too | By
Valerie Gerstein
How was school today?”
This is usually a question we ask our children. As a graduate school student at Columbia University, it was a reversal of roles when my children were the ones asking me that question.
Having chosen to stay home while my daughters were young, I had started planning for when they would leave our home in New York City for college. Three years ago, I decided to go back to campus myself.
With extensive volunteer leadership experience on nonprofit boards and committees worldwide—UJA-Federation of New York, the Gabriel Project Mumbai, Hazon/Adamah, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Heschel School, New York University and more—I chose to deepen my expertise by applying to Columbia University’s nonprofit management master’s program. Knowing there were many international students in the program, I also hoped to increase my exposure to cultures beyond my own.
I took my daughters, then ages 13 and 15, to tour the Morningside Heights campus, previewing what the experience would be like for them when they were ready to search for a college. We saw the lawns of Colum-
bia, Butler library and my future classroom. My girls even helped me download the app for a coffee shop at the university.
As I began the two-year, part-time program in fall 2022, I received my syllabus for the Ethics in the Nonprofit Sector course, my first class with a community of students from all over the world. When I reviewed the dates and assignments, I saw that one of our class sessions fell during Yom Kippur. I alerted my professor right away and assured him I would ask for notes from friends and catch up by the following class.
What happened while i was at synagogue for the holiday that night, gleaned from the notes I received from two classmates, has forever changed my trajectory and relationship with Columbia—and with my children, since they are getting tired of me retelling the story! And this was the year prior to the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent escalation of anti-Israel activism at Columbia and other campuses.
The in-class conversation, based on supplemental reading assigned by the professor, focused on the ethical
dilemma of Jewish donor influence on Israel studies programs on university campuses, naming Jewish philanthropies and leaders. The professor’s lecture, according to the notes I obtained, consisted of antisemitic tropes and indoctrination about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Jewish students like me, who could have shared alternative perspectives, were absent because of Yom Kippur. At the suggestion of Israel on Campus Coalition board chair Dorothy Tananbaum, I alerted the Academic Engagement Network, an independent group that mobilizes networks of university faculty and administrators to counter antisemitism and advance education about Israel. The group’s executive director provided me with guidance and topical articles.
Only when I presented these resources to my professor, who is the chief diversity officer for the School of Professional Studies at Columbia, were readings with alternative perspectives shared with the class via email. When offered the opportunity to present my perspective in a future class, I bravely took my turn to share about my connec-
Hope vs. Reality The author stands between her daughters and husband on the steps of Columbia’s Low library in 2022 (opposite page), two years before a Gaza solidarity encampment would take over nearby spaces.
tion to Israel and offered to have a dialogue about Israel with anyone in the class. Only two Jewish students and a Ukrainian refugee spoke with me, sharing about their personal experiences and reactions.
During my first year at Columbia, my family hosted many of my classmates for Shabbat and holiday meals. At the start of my second year, I welcomed a multicultural gathering in my rooftop sukkah. Students from India, Kenya, South Africa, Poland, Slovakia and Canada brought food from their home countries as we celebrated each other’s heritage.
Two days later, Hamas attacked Israel.
As the climate on campus immediately shifted, I found myself studying alongside students who were attending the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel protests and encampment.
One day in October 2023, even before the encampment was established, I was unable to access Butler library due to protestors who, with their faces covered, encircled the campus lawns and blocked the entrance while shouting and chanting antisemitic slogans and holding signs.
Antisemitism inside and outside of the classroom was palpable. Student leaders of the Nonprofit Management Student Association, of which I was the director of professional development, blocked opportunities for site visits to Jewish nonprofits such as Hadassah, where an alum of our program works, and UJA-Federation of New York, which helps New Yorkers regardless of religion. They declared that such programming didn’t fit into the DEI framework of our club and the school’s mission. They demanded secret votes to determine whether to proceed with speaker events or site visits. Any organization or speaker connected to the Jewish community became the target of behind-thescenes campaigns to be rejected.
Our final class was mandated to move to Zoom because the situation on campus, including the encampment that was established in April 2024 and the ongoing protests, had become too disruptive for all students. A student gleefully joined the Zoom class session from the encampment.
Now i am part of a lawsuit in federal court suing Columbia for violating my civil rights under Title VI. I was one of only five named students and two organizations—Students Against Antisemitism and StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice—in the original filing of February 2024, detailed by our lawyers Kasowitz Benson Torres in the Southern District of New York. We were joined by additional students in an amended complaint in June 2024. We are waiting on a ruling from the court on a Motion to Dismiss filed by Columbia.
Unfortunately, since our filing, buildings at Columbia and nearby Barnard College continue to be taken over by masked protestors, with their
heads wrapped in keffiyehs, just as they were a year ago.
By advocating for myself, I am showing my daughters—and their friends—how to respond to indoctrination from professors and to conversations about Jews that are inappropriate in their future classrooms. In addition to talking with their parents, students can surround themselves with Jewish friends and allies. They can advocate for themselves directly with their professors as well as talk to deans, student affairs departments and national organizations that support Jewish students on campus.
In modeling for my children, I am looking to the future but I also want them to honor our past. Our family recently went to Milan to celebrate the 100th birthday of Maria, a Holocaust survivor who grew up in Poland with my grandma and was with her in several concentration camps. We had become very close since Maria lived near us until she recently moved to live with her daughter in Milan.
Actions speak louder than words—-a lawsuit, a celebration of life and lifelong learning. My hope is that one day, my daughters will tell their grandchildren about what they witnessed when their mom went back to school to further her education—-and how she earned not just a master’s degree but also the determination to fight antisemitism and anti-Israel bias at Columbia.
Valerie Gerstein is a recent graduate of Columbia University’s nonprofit management master’s program. She is among the original plaintiffs in the Title VI lawsuit against Columbia brought by Kasowitz Benson Torres in February 2024. While a student, Gerstein, a Hadassah life member, met with congressional leaders and attended the House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on antisemitism at Columbia.
Unity Without Uniformity
At Mount Sinai and today, we are all the Children
By Ashira Boxman
of Israel
While attending the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., on November 14, 2023— one of the largest gatherings of American Jews in modern history— I closed my eyes for a second and imagined how it might have felt for our ancestors standing at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Back then, according to the Book of Exodus, hundreds of thousands of Israelites, hailing from diverse tribes, came together for a collective purpose. These individuals knew in their hearts that this moment demanded their presence. Some arrived at this moment looking for hope, others
sought inspiration and still others yearned for comfort. Perhaps for most, it was merely a longing for a sense of belonging and camaraderie. As they stood shoulder to shoulder, forming one enormous entity, their diversity faded into the background and their hearts and souls were interwoven. At this moment, they were not Jews or Hebrews, but rather Bnei Yisrael, the united offspring of Israel, bound together as one family unit. Standing in this diverse yet unified crowd, they realized that “Children of Israel” was more than just a name— there was a sacred purpose behind it.
Now it was my turn. Standing on the National Mall in Washington,
surrounded by close to 290,000 people, primarily Jews, coming from all corners of the earth and from across the political and religious spectrum, shook me to my core. I was thrown back 3,300 years to Sinai. Yet it wasn’t a dream. On that day in Washington, the Children of Israel again stood united.
But why did it take a massacre of Jews on October 7, 2023, the deadliest day for our people since the Holocaust, to bring us together for the first time in some of our lifetimes?
The following month, I traveled to India on an Entwine Insider Trip of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Entwine allows
participants to explore diverse communities and global Jewish issues, emphasizing personal responsibility. In India, our group was enriched by the presence of the Jewish Youth Pioneers (JYP), a group of young Jewish adults who play a vital role in sustaining the local community.
As we learned about their unique Jewish experience, we found countless parallels in our traditions and customs. It was heartening to realize that while I’m baking challah, lighting Shabbat candles, praying at synagogue or engaging in discussions about Israel, my friend and past president of JYP, Sharon Samuel, is doing the very same thing in India.
A medieval rabbinic legend portrays Moses and Aaron walking up the mountain with Nadav and Avihu walking behind them. Nadav and Avihu remark to one another, “When these two elders die, we will rule over the congregation in their place” (Yalkut Shimoni 361). Why were they not permitted to stand alongside Moses, soaking in the beauty of our diverse yet united community, thus preparing to amplify it for the next generation?
“Being Jewish in India, we don’t know many other Jewish people, and many people in India don’t know who we are,” Sharon told me. “After the October 7 massacre in Israel, people around the world were reaching out to offer security for our Jewish community. It’s comforting knowing that someone Jewish in America or Israel is looking out for us just because we are Jews.” This is the essence of Jewish peoplehood: a collective commitment to stand by fellow Jews globally, and not just in times of tragedy. It is driven by the principle of ahavat yisrael the love for our people.
The Book of Exodus tells of Moses’ ascent to the summit of Mount Sinai, where God commands him to wait, as he is about to receive the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Yet Moses’ ascent would offer something
additional. He received a profound gift atop that mountain: a sacred and unforgettable image of Bnei Yisrael in a panoramic view that encapsulated the essence of the Children of Israel. He witnessed the 12 tribes of Israel standing before him, arranged by family, each appearing so different from one another, yet all standing side by side, revealing the beauty of the Jewish people even with its differences. Our unique strength is precisely that: unity without uniformity.
Moses; his brother, Aaron; Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu; and the 70 elders of Israel ascended, but only Moses went to the top. The others were left behind after being given strict instruction from Moses: “Remain here for us until we return to you” (Exodus 24:14).
Now imagine if Moses had appealed to God for Aaron, Nadav and Avihu to join him atop Mount Sinai. All of them could have had the opportunity to witness the breathtaking panoramic view capturing the essence of the united, yet diverse, Children of Israel.
A more ancient rabbinic legend sharpens the question further, outlining two fatal sins of Nadav and Avihu, which might have been avoided had they been given a chance to stand on the mountaintop—and which are strikingly familiar in our Jewish world today. The first was the “strange fire” they brought to the altar; the second was the sin of “not having taken counsel” with one another (Leviticus Rabba 20:8).
Nadav and Avihu each brought his own fire, which seemed odd to the other. According to the legend, they brought what they were familiar with, creating a fire reflecting only what they knew and had learned growing up. Yet, in the process, each omitted essential ingredients that could have produced a more sacred fire that warmed them all. They were ignorant of how to ignite the sacrificial fire, because no one had shown them how.
Likewise, many contemporary Jewish communities—including the Reform movement of which I am a part—have mistakenly omitted some
Love of Our People Boxman (fourth from left) writes that she ‘chose to be ordained within the Reform movement because of its emphasis on tikkun olam,’ but her experiences with other communities make her appreciate ‘the diverse ways Jews practice Judaism.’
HADASSAH MAGAZINE PRESENTS
Join us on June 18 at 7 PM ET when Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein moderates a panel discussion with some of the most impressive young women speaking up for Israel and against antisemitism today, including rabbinic candidate Ashira Boxman and Yocheved Ruttenberg, founder of the Sword of Iron-Israel Volunteer Opportunities Facebook community. Free and open to all. To register, use the QR code here or go to hadassahmagazine.org.
crucial ingredients in the education of the next generation, including our sacred purpose of being Bnei Yisrael.
For decades now, many liberal Jews have prioritized the mitzvah of tikkun olam—repairing the world— at the expense of other critical Jewish values, especially ahavat yisrael. We have forgotten that the latter is inextricable from the former. To repair the world without repairing oneself is to care about the suffering of others while neglecting one’s own. Mending our relationships with our fellow Jews, taking responsibility and supporting communities halfway around the world are essential.
As the verse from the Mishnah suggests, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, then what am I?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14). Or the passage in the Shulchan Aruch, the premier halachic code from the 16th century: “Any relative should be given preference to a stranger; the poor of his own house to the poor of the city at large; the poor of his own city to the poor of
other cities; and the poor who dwell in the Holy Land to those who dwell in other lands” (Yoreh Deah 251:3).
Here, we witness the intersection of particularism and universalism. However, as the sequence of these verses implies, our initial focus should be directed inward before extending ourselves outward.
“A universal concern for humanity unaccompanied by a devotion to our particular people is self-destructive,” wrote the great Reform theologian Rabbi Eugene Borowitz, “but a passion for our people without involvement in humankind contradicts what the prophets have meant to us. Judaism calls us simultaneously to universal and particular obligations.” This was the aspirational goal of the Reform movement half a century ago.
Since then, however, Reform Judaism has not conveyed adequately enough, especially to the younger generations, the importance of peoplehood and the concern for our fellow Jews.
As the Orthodox theologian Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik explained in his book exile settled in different lands, encountered different cultures and adopted a wide array of dialects and modes of dress. In a sense, the Jewish peo ple sprouted multiple heads. This immedi ately raises the question of whether such a multiheaded being truly retains a sense of
unity. The test case is what happens when one head finds itself in pain or trouble; if the other heads also cry out and seek relief, then they all still belong to one whole.
Our motivation to repair the world comes from the realization that our diverse experiences hold value and have shaped each individual’s journey.
Igrew up in a home that emphasized the importance of tikkun olam. I deepened this important value by attending Union of Reform Judaism camps my whole life, participating in NFTY EIE High School in Israel and being the daughter of a rabbi who chose to be ordained within the Reform movement because of its emphasis on tikkun olam.
I have also been fortunate to have had many other experiences that have taught me the value of ahavat yisrael. I attended a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school, served on the board of my campus Chabad as the social action chair, and currently I am serving as a JDCWeitzman Fellow, which teaches the importance of caring for all our fellow Jews wherever they live. These experiences have led me toward the summit of the mountain to observe, to engage with and to learn from the diversity of the Children of Israel.
I sincerely hope Jewish leaders will develop greater tolerance and begin genuinely engaging in the richness of diversity that is our people. They can begin by appreciating the diverse ways
Ashira Boxman
Jews practice Judaism. When each Jew is confident in who they are, they do not need to fear those who worship differently. They need not be confined to the “strange fire” of their own denominations.
Nadav and avihu’s other sin was not taking counsel from one another. Each brother brought his own offering without discussing it with the other. They had no desire to learn from one another. They missed an opportunity to appreciate each other’s contributions, and their inability to collaborate ultimately led to their downfall.
I recognize this danger way too often in our world today. We isolate
ourselves from the rest of the Jewish world when we are unwilling to engage with perspectives different from our own. Like Nadav and Avihu’s strange fire, other people’s ideas and truths might appear unsettling, but we must push ourselves to engage with others.
By bringing future leaders up the mountain and enabling them to see the beauty that is the mosaic of our people, they might be more open to listening and learning from one another.
God said to Moses: “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there” (Exodus 24:12). As individuals in the Jewish community, we need truly to be there, even when it feels uncomfortable, even when we disagree. As
we celebrate the giving of the Torah on the holiday of Shavuot, my prayer for the Jewish community is to lead with openness, to remain present with the sacred beings before us, to cultivate growth through listening and engagement, to embrace difference, to transcend judgment with kindness and to replace assumptions with understanding.
Ashira Boxman is a member of the graduating class of 2025/5785 at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City and was slated to be ordained as a rabbi this spring.
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Victims’ families plead for accountability for October 7
ByMaayanHoffman
Edna mor adjusted her computer camera, angling it toward the grand piano at the heart of her living room. Her thick Russian accent grew harder to understand as she fought back tears.
“This is the holiest place in my house,” she whispered. “She loved playing so much.”
“She” is Shirel Mor, Edna’s daughter, who was one of the tatzpitaniyot,
observer soldiers from the Border Defense Corps’ 414th unit, tasked with keeping close watch on the border with Gaza. She and 15 other young female soldiers from her unit were murdered at the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Though her daughter has long been buried, Edna still hasn’t accepted it—she’s always waiting for her to come home.
Mor described Shirel as wise
beyond her years, a child who never argued with anyone and always pursued justice. She said her daughter taught her how to compartmentalize and focus on what truly mattered. When her mother invited friends over, Shirel would sit quietly, listening as they chatted in the living room. Then, once they left, she would shake her head.
“‘Why do they waste their time with gossip?’” Mor recalled her
A poster featuring released soldiers (from left) Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev and Agam Berger in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square
daughter saying. “‘Life is too short. Life goes too fast.’ ”
In the end, it was Shirel’s life that was over too quickly.
Since that day in 2023, Shirel’s family has been shattered. Her 25-year-old brother, Matanel, has shut down. He suffers from depression, can no longer work and has become reliant on sleeping pills, his mother said. Eventually, he started seeing a psychologist.
“She would call him even more than she would call me or my husband,” Mor said of her children’s close relationship. “They went everywhere together. He is in terrible pain. He is lost. We are lost. We must find a way to continue, but we don’t know how.”
Three other siblings—Ilana, Shalom and Michaela—are struggling as well.
Mor is not just grieving—she’s also angry. Her fury has grown as reports from the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet reveal a series of security failures leading up to October 7. And even those reports, she insists, barely scratch the surface of what happened.
Her pain was also sharpened by the return of some of her daughter’s fellow soldiers from Hamas captivity in late January. The five tatzpitaniyot kidnapped and held in Gaza—Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Agam Berger and Liri Albag— were released in a hostage deal that marked a time of joy for their families and the nation, and a brutal reminder that Mor’s daughter will never come home.
Weeks after the young women’s release, the IDF issued a detailed report on the October 7 attack on Nahal Oz, one of several army reports on attack sites made public.
Separately, the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, has released its own review and has begun to take responsibility for its failures.
Led by Col. Ido Kas, the IDF investigation into Nahal Oz found that 215 Hamas terrorists had stormed the base, where 162 soldiers were stationed that day. Security protocols did not account for such an attack, and no drills had simulated facing a ground assault. The base’s perimeter wall had gaps, and its shelters and war room were built to withstand rocket fire, not a full-scale ground invasion.
The report also revealed that Hamas had been gathering intelligence for years using drones, soldiers’ social media accounts and IDF publications. Indeed, during the subsequent fighting in Gaza, the IDF recovered a 2023 Hamas document that detailed the
Nahal Oz base with precision.
At 7:05 a.m. on that Saturday, terrorists breached the base and attacked a shelter, abducting seven surveillance soldiers. One of them, Ori Megidish, was rescued on October 29, 2023, in a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation just two days after Israel launched its full-scale invasion of Gaza. Another, Cpl. Noa Marciano, was killed in Gaza. Her body was found by the IDF in a building next to the Al-Shifa Hospital in November 2023.
The remaining five were held for more than 470 days.
By noon on October 7, Hamas had set fire to the Nahal Oz command center, killing the surveillance soldiers trapped inside. In total, 53 soldiers were killed on the base—31 combat troops and 22 noncombat personnel. Ten were taken hostage. The IDF
Grief and Anger Though her daughter Shirel is long buried, Edna Mor still hasn’t accepted it—she’s always waiting for her to come home.
killed 45 terrorists in and around the base.
The release of this report—along with others on various communities attacked that day—was meant to restore public trust in the IDF’s ability to assess its failures. Instead, it has
had the opposite effect.
A Maariv survey released in March found that nearly half of Israelis—47 percent—claimed declining trust in the IDF following the public release of the findings.
The report “tells me what hap-
pened at 6:30 a.m. after the rockets started,” Mor said. “I want to know what happened to my daughter’s warning. The negligence of October 7 didn’t start that night—it started months, maybe even years before.”
Shirel had always reassured her mother that everything was fine. But when she came home for Sukkot break just days before the massacre on Simchat Torah, Mor recalled that she was different, nervous. She told one of her friends she was afraid to go back to her base stationed less than a mile from the Gaza border.
“They knew this was going to happen—that Hamas would break through the fence,” Mor said.
Another grieving parent of an observer soldier agreed. “The reports highlighted the army’s incompetence and showed that even more needs to be investigated to ensure October 7 never happens again,” said Eyal Eshel, father of Roni Eshel, who, like Shirel, was burned alive in the Nahal Oz command center.
Mor and Eshel are among the many Israelis who are insisting that the government conduct a full national inquiry and hold those responsible in the government, the military and the intelligence accountable.
If not, Mor said, “I don’t see a future for this country.”
Gabi siboni, an idf reserve colonel and a researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security, called the failure “multidimensional.” Israel “had all the intelligence before October 7 but misread it entirely,” he said.
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said he had warned of such an all-out attack months before October 7. In June 2023, he wrote a report for the Mid-
Missing Roni Eyal Eshel, here with his children Alon and Yael wearing t-shirts that spell out in Hebrew October 7, is fighting to hold the IDF accountable for what happened at the Nahal Oz base, where his murdered daughter, Roni, is now memorialized (top).
dle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank, criticizing Israel’s previous strategy, dubbed “mowing the grass.” It relied on large-scale military operations aimed at buying time and restoring short-term calm rather than trying to eliminate Hamas. But once Hamas regained strength, another round of fighting became inevitable. It became a recurring cycle—like a homeowner who must keep mowing the lawn to prevent it from becoming overgrown.
“The security community dismissed my paper,” Kuperwasser said in an interview.
Shira Efron, research director at the Israel Policy Forum, noted that even as Hamas leaders spoke openly about attacking the country, Israel responded by granting them more work permits and facilitating Qatari financial support. For years, Qatar had been sending millions of dollars each month into the Gaza Strip.
The funds were approved by Israeli authorities who presumed the cash flow would keep the terror organization contained, but ultimately the
money helped strengthen Hamas’s ability to confront Israel.
Efron argued that these initial investigations provide only a fragmented view of what went wrong, with each military branch examining its own failures in isolation. What Israel needs, she said, is a comprehensive inquiry covering not just the IDF, but also intelligence agencies and political decision-makers.
Siboni agreed. “We need to get to the root of the truth,” he said. “Without it, we’ll never fix this.”
On january 25, four of the five kidnapped tatzpitaniyot were released—Hamas freed Berger five days later—bringing a measure of closure to their families as the young women began their long journeys toward recovery. Slowly, frightening details of their captivity have emerged alongside remarkable stories of resilience.
Albag found a way to manipulate her captors. The women were allowed to use the bathroom only twice a day, and she discovered that if she timed her trip just right, she could glimpse the sunset through a crack in the door.
Berger prayed a lot in Gaza. A source close to her confirmed that she discovered a siddur buried in the dirt near where she was held and persuaded her captors to let her keep it.
Gilboa taught herself to sing “Shalom Aleichem” in Arabic so she could keep the tradition alive on Shabbat.
The country celebrated their return with overwhelming joy. Efron, of the Israel Policy Forum, said she still gets goosebumps when she remembers the moment of their release.
“There were tons of rumors about what they had gone through—that they would return pregnant or with
Admitting Mistake In February, then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi apologized to four of the observer soldiers released from Gaza: (from left) Naama Levy, Agam Berger, Liri Albag and Karina Ariev.
The burned-out remains of the Nahal Oz command center
babies. I am sure we don’t know even a fraction of the horrors they endured, but seeing them standing on that stage, looking relatively healthy, smiling proudly in the face of Hamas—they looked like superheroes,” Efron said. “They are only kids, but they are superheroes.”
Before they were turned over to the Red Cross, Hamas forced each of the soldiers to stand on a stage before thousands of armed fighters. The women were likely terrified, but they smiled—determined to project strength and dignity in the face of their ordeal.
But for parents like Mor and Eshel, their homecoming was bittersweet.
“It was tough for me,” Mor said. “I kept asking myself, ‘Why couldn’t my daughter have been kidnapped? At least then she would have come back to me.’ I’m happy for them but also angry and in pain. My daughter is not coming back.”
Eshel echoed her grief. “I really wanted them to come home,” he said of the five soldiers. But, the grieving
father added, “I am filled with jealousy just knowing their parents can hug their daughters, and I cannot. This whole thing could have been prevented, and Roni could still be here.”
‘WHY COULDN’T MY DAUGHTER HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED? AT LEAST THEN SHE WOULD HAVE COME BACK TO ME.’
—EDNA MOR
Another mother, Anat Glass, whose daughter, Yam, was also burned alive in the command center at Nahal Oz, voiced the same despair.
“I’m still waiting for my daughter to come home,” she said in an interview. “I still cannot believe I won’t speak to her again.”
Before October 7, Glass said, her
family was “normal”—two parents, three children. Nearly a decade ago, her husband, Lior, had been relocated for his job to the Netherlands, and they lived there for about five years. In 2021, they returned to Israel so that Yam and her older brother could serve in the IDF.
The weekend before the tragedy, Yam was home with her mother while her father and brothers went on a trip to Greece. The two spoke about how happy Yam was. They even planned to take a girls’ trip after Yam finished her army service.
Days later, when the attacks began, Glass tried desperately to reach her daughter. But the phone call never went through.
For four weeks, the IDF couldn’t confirm whether Yam had been kidnapped, escaped or murdered. Her family searched every hospital and posted across social media, hoping for any sign of her. They waited, day after day, not knowing her fate.
About a month later, the knock on the door came. The army delivered the tragic news: Yam’s remains had been identified by DNA.
“We don’t know what we buried,” Glass said. Her daughter had been burned beyond recognition.
Receiving the Nahal Oz report only deepened her heartbreak, she said. It was “so upsetting—she could have been saved. These girls tried to call for help.”
Only two tatzpitaniyot survived the attack without being killed or kidnapped. Yael Rotenberg, who was asleep in the living quarters when the assault began, miraculously lived. Maya Desiatnik managed to escape through a small bathroom window in the command center as it went up in flames.
Delayed Burial The funeral for murdered soldier Yam Glass was held on November 8, 2023, after her burned remains were identified through DNA testing.
Desiatnik described feeling “relief” and “happiness” when the five tatzpitaniyot were freed. She has visited two of them and hopes to reconnect with the others, but it remains challenging.
“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What if it had been me?’ ” she admitted, adding that she suffers from severe survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder.
She remembers October 7 with haunting clarity: “When the terrorists set the command room on fire, the smoke spread quickly. It was everywhere. Despite the darkness, I managed to talk myself through it to calm myself down. I told myself I had to get out, no matter what.
‘WE CANNOT UNDO THE SUFFERING OF THOSE WHO LOST THE DEAREST THING THEY HAD. WHAT WE CAN DO IS ENSURE WE DON’T REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES.’
—BRIG. GEN. (RES.)
YOSSI KUPERWASSER
“I climbed through the window and made my way around the building to where there were cement blocks. I hid there,” she continued. “We had to stay hidden for almost three hours.”
Desiatnik escaped alongside two noncombat soldiers from the Golani unit. Since then, she has visited the Nahal Oz base twice hoping for closure, but each visit has left her unsettled.
Ori Megidish
“It doesn’t look like my base,” she said. “My base was colorful and full of girls. We walked around; we laughed. Now, it’s all gone.”
In the aftermath, she has found comfort in a support group of fellow soldiers from across the country who survived that day. But she, too, remains angry.
“It’s infuriating that we were the ones who reported what was happening—and we were the ones who got killed,” Desiatnik said. “Everyone involved owes an explanation for what went wrong so that the country can learn from it.”
Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, acknowledged that no actions could make up for the loss the families of the observer soldiers have experi-
enced, but action is needed.
“We cannot undo the suffering of those who lost the dearest thing they had,” he said. “What we can do is ensure we don’t repeat the same mistakes. We must investigate, learn and dramatically improve our response. That is the only way to honor these 16 fallen observers. It won’t compensate their families, but it might offer them a small measure of solace.”
For Mor, a national inquiry that leads to change is imperative. “I cannot close the circle,” she said, her voice breaking. “Not until I know the state has changed—until I know my daughter didn’t die in vain.”
Maayan Hoffman is executive editor of ILTV News, a correspondent for The Media Line and a columnist for Ynet News.
Hadassah’s Slam Dunk
Partnering with an Israeli women’s basketball team | By
Barbara Sofer
The starting five were warming up on the court, dribbling, passing and throwing hoops in Jerusalem’s Malha Arena. Home team Hapoel Lev Jerusalem was playing archrivals Elitzur Ramla. Shooting guard Alyssa Baron’s three-pointers flew through the hoop, as Shir Tirosh, the shortest player at 5’5”, practiced her alley-oop offensive play from under the basket. The tallest of the team is agile, swift Anja Fuchs-Robetin at 6’1”. Completing the starting squad were Tiffany Mitchell and Emily Engstler.
That game on February 14 marked the first time the Israeli Women’s Basketball Premier League professional team wore their new uniforms: white with red trim and bearing the logo of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America (there is also a set with the colors in reverse).
In January 2025, HWZOA became a sponsor of the club as well as its fast-expanding network of community teams for girls and amateur leagues for women in Jerusalem
Although Jerusalem is Israel’s largest city with over a million inhabitants, Hapoel Lev Jerusalem is just two years old. In that short time, the team won the 2024 Israeli Basketball State Cup, and this year came in second.
Many of the players are in their late 20s through early 30s, a mix of Israelis and foreign players from America and Austria. There are also some as young as 18; several are Israel Defense Forces soldiers given exceptional athlete status by the IDF and balance their limited duties in the army with their larger commitment as athletes.
There are Premier League women’s
teams throughout Israel, including in Ashdod, Ramla, Ramat Gan, Holon, Ramat Hasharon, Rishon LeZion and Haifa. However, thanks to the success of Hapoel Lev Jerusalem—with the support of Hadassah—Jerusalem in 2025 has become something of a basketball hub for women and girls.
As part of the Hapoel Lev Jerusalem network of teams, some 600 girls play in youth and neighborhood leagues. The girls come from all sectors of Israeli society: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular as well as special needs youngsters. At youth league practices, players show up in all kinds of attire—shorts, long skirts, hijabs.
“Hapoel Lev Jerusalem promotes the values that we in Hadassah share,” said Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz, who came to cheer on the team on February 14 after a long day of meetings in Jeru-
Hapoel Lev Jerusalem in action
salem. “As we have seen in our own lives in the United States, giving equal opportunity in the sports arena leads to gender equality and the advancement of women in society as a whole. We’re proud to have our logo on the court and to be supporting so many girls in a beneficial sport.”
The jerusalem club came into being because of the fortuitous meeting of the minds and hearts—lev means heart in Hebrew— of two Israeli women: Netta Abugov, now chairwoman of Hapoel Lev Jerusalem, and American-born basketball player and coach Rebecca Ross, the team’s general manager. Hapoel translates to the worker, referencing the team’s connection to a sports association established by the Histadrut Labor Federation in the 1920s.
Abugov, 46, grew up in Holon playing volleyball and windsurfing. Tall and effervescent, she thrives on challenges. The child of immigrants from Iraq and Egypt, she earned her doctorate in linguistics exploring the colloquial Yiddish spoken today by ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The interest of the two oldest of her four children—son Imry and daughter Tenne—led her to basketball. Tenne (whose name means “basket,” like the kind used to carry first fruits on Shavuot) joined a boys team because no team for girls existed where they used to live in Kfar Oranim. The then-10-year-old and a female teammate were repeatedly benched when they competed against teams from religious boys’ schools.
Abugov’s complaints about the benching went unheeded, but her outraged social media posts about them went viral. Determined to provide basketball opportunities for girls, she joined the volunteer administration of a team in Israel’s
northwest where Imry was playing.
As a sponsor and later as the club chairwoman, she nurtured the local women’s team until they did well enough to be promoted to the Premier League. “Unhappily, the local municipal council refused to advance the funds needed to sponsor a Premier League team,” recalled Abugov. “We hit a glass ceiling.”
Also disappointed was Ross, one
of the top players on Abugov’s team. She had immigrated with her family when she was 8. “I hardly spoke a word of Hebrew, and I had no friends,” she said. “All I had was a love of sports. I played with the boys—whatever the sport—when they let me in.”
A relatively petite 5’5”, the 35year-old has played basketball for different Israeli clubs and has coached
Teamwork American Tiffany Mitchell, part of Hapoel Lev Jerusalem’s starting lineup, takes the ball at a game this season (top); The team shows off their new uniform, which features the Hadassah logo on their shorts.
girls teams, and she shared Abugov’s dreams about creating a Premier League team in Israel’s capital.
Ross said she also had particularly wanted to create basketball opportunities for girls on the autism spectrum. And indeed, three of the Hapoel Lev Jerusalem junior basketball teams play at Shalva, the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
Hwzoa came into the story when Suzanne Patt Benvenisti, a Texas-born basketball fan who serves as the executive director of Hadassah Offices in Israel, met Abugov and Ross in 2022 and recognized that the team’s goals synchronized with those of HWZOA.
“I knew that participation in sports can be a significant driver in the lives of girls and young women in particular,” Patt Benvenisti said. “The events of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war took a heavy toll on Israeli society and for many girls and women. Sports are a safe haven, where they could build resilience and restore their peace of mind. Supporting the team, and particularly the youth clubs, is a great way to reach many sectors in Israel.”
She brought the sponsorship idea to Schwartz and Hadassah’s national board, which enthusiastically approved it.
“Multiple studies have shown that involvement in sports activity is effective in reducing stress, depressive symptoms, general and social anxiety, and loneliness at a time of national stress and trauma,” said Schwartz, who added that “it’s imperative to reach out to girls and women.”
Sponsoring Hapoel Lev Jerusalem was also a good fit because the Hadassah Medical Organization has a longstanding connection with the
Supporting Women’s Basketball
Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz (left), with standing guard Alyssa Baron and Netta Abugov, chairwoman of Hapoel Lev Jerusalem, visited the team in February.
popular local men’s club, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, commonly referred to as Hapoel Jerusalem. For the last 28 years, Hapoel Jerusalem team members have visited the pediatric departments at Hadassah’s hospitals during Hanukkah, when the celebrity players interact with the sick children and distribute gifts.
“As teens, my friends and I played basketball and became enthusiastic fans of Hapoel Jerusalem,” said Dr. Meir (Iri) Liebergall, the retired head of orthopedics at HMO who now heads orthopedics at the Gandel Rehabilitation Center at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus. “A number of us grew up to become orthopedists, and we began volunteering our
‘GIVING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
IN THE SPORTS ARENA LEADS TO GENDER EQUALITY
AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY AS A WHOLE.’
—CAROL ANN SCHWARTZ
services to the team. Later, the connection was formalized so that a Hadassah orthopedist is always at the games dealing with injuries. We follow up when needed at the hospital.”
As part of the HWZOA sponsorship, an HMO medical team now provides services to Hapoel Lev Jerusalem, too. (Both teams are part of the Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club, which began as a men’s club in 1943.) Dr. Yahav Levy, an orthopedic surgeon at Hadassah with a subspecialty in sports medicine, is often the one who attends the women’s games, while players and coaches can consult Hadassah doctors about injuries any time.
Recently, Tiffany Mitchell, the starting guard on the women’s team, needed help with pain in her knee. Mitchell splits her playing time between Hapoel Lev Jerusalem and her position on the Las Vegas Aces of the Women’s National Basketball Association in the United States, so Dr. Levy had to coordinate care with her medical team in America. After consulting her orthopedist in the United States, Dr. Levy said, they came up with a plan that included
platelet-rich plasma injections to the knee, which stimulates healing and reduces pain and swelling. After rehabilitation, Dr. Levy said, “she went back to play with significant relief.”
As HWZOA is sponsoring the junior female teams as well, Dr. Levy also had a consultation with a teenager who wanted to play in a season final despite an injury to her shoulder. “When I looked at her X-rays, I saw that she had a non-displaced clavicle fracture, and there was no way I was going to let her on the court. At the minimum, she’d need eight weeks of rest and a sling.”
“Sometimes we have a conflict between the long-range well-being of the players as patients and their commitment to the game for their own careers and for their teams,” he said. “We understand that and must take all of it into considerations, while involving the players themselves as well as the teams.”
Sometimes the courtside doctors have to deal with nonorthopedic injuries. “Once I had a player who fell flat on his face and broke his teeth. I had to call in dentists,” Dr. Levy recalled. “Fortunately, we have those, too, at Hadassah.”
Even before the sponsorship agreement was formalized, the women’s premier team visited wounded soldiers at the Gandel center. Later, during Hanukkah, players met with adolescent female psychiatry patients at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. The teens sought the players’ autographs but also asked them questions, mostly about the emotional side of professional basketball—for instance, “How do you cope with losing a game?”
“When we lose, I have a bad evening and feel awful,” Tirosh, a guard, answered. “I make sure I have
something to eat so I don’t go to bed hungry. When I wake up in the morning, I tell myself it’s a new day and that I can’t dwell on yesterday’s losses.”
With a twinkle in her eye, she also admitted that if a tough opponent has four fouls and runs into her, she might “slightly exaggerate“ the injury. “Nothing theatrical,” Tirosh said. “Just what’s accepted in professional sporting events.“
The players talked candidly about their own struggles when they were younger, from overcoming teasing due to their laser-focus on playing basketball to feeling ambivalent about missing class trips and having limited time to relax and hang out at the mall because of the constant need to practice.
Yarden Dana, a 27-year-old forward guard from Rehovot, told the teenagers about the loneliness she felt when she left her family to study in a high school that had a strong basketball program.
Mitchell, 30, grew up in North Carolina and was a top draft in the WNBA. As part of her professional basketball career, she played with teams in six countries, including Australia and Rwanda, before being recruited by Hapoel Lev Jerusalem.
Mitchell stressed the need for mental preparation as well as physical training. “When I have a disappointing game, I go back to the gym and know that practice will make me better next time,” she said. “I have trained so much that when I miss, I trust myself to be able to get the shot in the basket the next time.“
The teens then challenged the players to an indoor basketball arcade game. The kids gave the professionals such a run for their money that the squad asked their coach to get them an arcade game, too, for practice.
“The collaboration with national
Hadassah and HMO is a significant milestone both for Hapoel Lev Jerusalem and Israel because of the shared values, social activism and contributions to society,” Abugov said after that encounter.
Back at malha arena during that February game, the team took the lead in the first two quarters. At the half-time break, girls from Hapoel Lev Jerusalem youth teams filed onto the court. Wearing their Hadassah jerseys, the 10-yearold junior players dribbled, passed and took aim at the basket.
After the break, the team retained its dominance on the court, and the match ended in a big win, with Hapoel Lev Jerusalem besting Elitzur Ramla 107-99.
For Hadassah and Hapoel Lev Jerusalem, the new cooperation is a slam dunk.
Barbara Sofer, an award-winning journalist and author, is Israel director of public relations for Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America.
HADASSAH ON CALL
Decode today’s developments in health and medicine, from new treatments to tips on staying healthy, with the Hadassah On Call: New Frontiers in Medicine podcast. In each episode, journalist Maayan Hoffman, a third-generation Hadassah member, interviews one of the Hadassah Medical Organization’s top doctors, nurses or medical innovators. Catch up on recent episodes, including a discussion about common childhood emergencies with Dr. Saara Hashavya, head of the Pediatric Emergency Department at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. Subscribe and share your comments at hadassah.org/hadassahoncall or wherever you listen to podcasts.
HADASSAH
Evolving Leadership, Evolving Ingenuity
Triumphs of Israeli technology and Hadassah engagement
AN IMMERSIVE ISRAEL EXPERIENCE
By Shari Harel
Israel has always held a profound place in my heart and soul,” said Oklahoma City resident Julia Assef, “and this journey only deepened that passion.”
That “journey” is one that Assef took in February with nine other women from the second and third cohorts of the Evolve Leadership Fellows, which is a two-year engagement initiative providing women 45 and under with opportunities to grow, learn and develop leadership skills within Hadassah, their professions and their communities. These opportunities include travel to Israel for an immersive Hadassah experience.
“The depth and breadth of content in this trip was more than I could have expected,” said Rachel Chernoff of Deerfield, Ill. “The itinerary was so thorough and comprehensive, a true mix of intensely exciting highs and important but devastating lows.”
The fellowship is a flagship program of Evolve Hadassah: The Next Generation, which seeks to attract and engage younger members and leaders, thereby transforming the face of Hadassah and shepherding it into the future.
At Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, the Fellows gathered in a classroom, eyes facing forward to where forensic dentist Dr. Esi Sharon-Sagi, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sasha Satanovsky and chief psychologist Shiri Ben-David gave a lesson on resilience. They shared how the day of October 7,
2023, started for them and where it led professionally and personally. They immersed the Fellows in accounts of identifying body after body using dental records, deciding where to evacuate wounded soldiers and treating the mental health of hundreds of patients enduring physical and mental trauma.
A stop at the Gandel Rehabilitation Center at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus gave the Fellows an insider’s look into the cutting-edge equipment that aids in patient recovery, including a hydrotherapy pool and NASAgrade anti-gravity treadmills as well as the occupational therapy room for wounded soldiers to practice performing everyday tasks.
At Hadassah Neurim Youth Aliyah Village, the Fellows got their hands dirty feeding goats at the animal
sanctuary, planting vegetable seeds at the agricultural center and painting dog beds for the canine rehabilitation center. They also had the opportunity to chat with some of the students, including refugees who fled war-torn Ukraine, and hear about their time at the village.
“Seeing the village firsthand has greatly impacted me,” said Diana Silver of Lake Worth, Fla. “Knowing some of these students’ stories from
The Gandel Rehabilitation Center received recent visits from the Evolve Fellows as well as from Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz. On her own tour of the facility, Schwartz met residential patient Yehonatan Ben Tzur (left). After completing their reserve military service together in Gaza, Ben Tzur and friend Adi Levin were on vacation when they were severely wounded in the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. After two months of treatment in Louisiana, where Hadassah New Orleans and other Jewish groups provided hospitality and assistance in many ways, both men returned to Israel to complete their recoveries—Ben Tzur at the Gandel center.
Evolve Fellows on a graffiti tour of Tel Aviv
before they moved to the village and seeing how the village has positively impacted the course of their lives is so moving.”
From the sacred grounds of the Kotel in Jerusalem to the ancient port city of Jaffa to the forward-looking Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv— and with remembrance visits to Yad Vashem and Henrietta Szold’s final resting place on the Mount of Olives, both in Jerusalem—the Fellows adventured through Israel’s past and future.
“In the nearly 30 years since my last trip to Israel, my memories and connection to the country had faded,” said Danielle Feldman of Sonoma County, Calif. “Now that I’ve been here again, I remember the love for Israel that I felt as a teenager.”
Many Fellows noted the importance of bearing witness to the atrocities of October 7 as well as the resilience of the Israeli people.
“Being there in person puts what happened into a different perspective, seeing their faces and reading their stories of how loved they are,” Silver said after the Fellows visited the Nova Music Festival site, which brought tears to many eyes as they saw the rows of wooden posts featuring the faces and names of those murdered and kidnapped. “The next day we witnessed soldiers singing, dancing and just enjoying life…. Being able to dance along with them made the sadness of seeing Nova come full circle and bring some joy into everyone’s lives.”
Now that the Fellows are back in the United States, their Hadassah journeys continue via monthly virtual learning sessions, meetings with national leaders and the opportunity to take on official roles in their local communities. “If anything, I am now
doubling down on my commitment to Hadassah,” said Tory Roman of Piedmont, Calif. “When you meet people who have been directly impacted by Hadassah’s work, it emboldens you to spread its objectives and fundraise with even more vigor. I will forever be grateful for this experience.”
“Prior to this trip, I hadn’t made the connection to Hadassah’s work in Israel that I needed to be a Hadas-
ZIONISM…DID YOU KNOW
sah leader,” Feldman said. “Now that I’ve visited the medical facilities and talked with providers and spent time at the Neurim youth village, I’ll be able to wholeheartedly advocate for Hadassah’s needs while encouraging others to get involved.”
Shari Harel is a copywriter in the Marketing & Communications Division of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America.
Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah, begins on June 1, and many Jews around the world will celebrate by eating dairy foods. While those in America may bake or buy blintzes, in Israel, Jews are more likely to consume cheese bourekas. Shavuot is the time of year with the highest consumption of dairy in Israel, with some milk producers preparing up to five months in advance to accommodate the spike. How has the startup nation innovated its dairy industry?
• According to the Israeli Dairy School, there were about 1,000 cows in prestate Israel at the dawn of the 20th century. By 1933, that number stood at more than 30,000 cows that produced around 20 million gallons of milk annually.
• Today, Israel’s 120,000 cows—the dominant breed is known as Israeli Holsteins—produce around 400 million gallons of milk per year with an annual dairy product value of approximately $2.6 billion. The annual milk yield per cow is among the highest in the world and stood at more than 3,000 gallons in 2021, per official records.
• Founded on Kibbutz Afikim in 1977, Afimilk is today a global leader in milk technology, having introduced the first electronic milk meter and first bovine pedometer, which also provides instant information on a cow’s health, productivity and fertility.
• Before Tnuva became Israel’s largest food manufacturer, it was launched in the 1920s as a milk distributor for moshavim and kibbutzim, after the collectives decided to unify dairy production.
• What does Israeli ingenuity provide for vegans and those with lactose intolerance? Remilk manufactures cultured milk using microbial fermentation instead of animals.
NOW YOU KNOW…MORE ABOUT DAIRY FARMING IN ISRAEL
Seeing another side of Israel by jeep
Summertime in Graz and Salzburg
Restored synagogues, charming old towns and classical music | By
Hilary Danailova
As my daughter—who’s seen the film 41 times—will tell you, there are myriad reasons to love The Sound of Music. She would highlight a dashing young Christopher Plummer; Julie Andrews’ ringing bell of a soprano; a score by the iconic Jewish musical team of Rogers & Hammerstein; and the seven adorable von Trapp kids do-re-mi-ing their way through alpine landscapes.
For me, as an adult, the top reason is the film’s portrayal of resolutely anti-Nazi Austrians. Ripping up the swastika flag and thumbing his nose at Nazi orders, Captain von Trapp runs counter to the common image of
Austria as not only the birthplace of Adolf Hitler and many of his henchmen but also as a land where antisemitism lies barely dormant beneath a veneer of gemütlichkeit (the Austrian and German term for warm feelings).
So it was with a mix of curiosity and Hollywood nostalgia that I visited Austria last summer, bound first for Graz and then Salzburg—the country’s second- and fourth-largest cities, respectively. I was soon
WHAT TO SEE
GRAZ
Just off an alley from Herrengasse , the main pedestrian route in the historic center, is the entrance to Schlossberg , a hilltop fortress that is Graz’s main attraction. Getting there is half the fun: Choose from a funicular, a glass elevator or the many terraced steps that ascend 1,500 feet to a mountaintop aerie with gardens, cafes and spectacular views.
With its Modernist blocky design of glass dome and red bricks—some sourced from the ruins of its predecessor—the New Synagogue of Graz is easy to spot along the riverfront at David-Herzog-Place, named in memory of the city’s immediate prewar rabbi. Its interior is no less striking, with a minimalist white design and plain metal ark that pointedly contrast
rewarded with some of the elegant sights I’d fantasized about while watching the von Trapps entertain at their lakeside palazzo on the outskirts of Salzburg.
Set amid the foothills of the Eastern Alps, Graz straddles the Mur River and is the heart of a southern Austrian region called Styria. It was the medieval seat of Hapsburg royalty and the birthplace of both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Archduke
with the ornamentation of prewar temples. The Orthodox congregation serves the Jewish population of the entire Styria region and is home to The House of Names Holocaust and Tolerance Centre Styria , an exhibition and education space devoted to the Shoah.
Murinsel , a translucent floating island set in the middle of the Mur River, is spectacularly lit by night. It was built when Graz was named the European Capital of Culture for 2003, as was the nearby Kunsthaus Graz , a contemporary art museum whose exhibits are less memorable than its black, undulating exterior (locals call it the “Friendly Alien”).
SALZBURG
From nearly every vantage point, the circa1077 Hohensalzburg —one of Europe’s largest castles—is visible on a hill above the
The late Marko Feingold in the Salzburg Synagogue
Past and Present The Modernist New Synagogue of Graz (right); Salzburg’s legendary Getreidegasse (opposite page, far left) runs into Judengasse (middle), site of the city’s medieval Jewish quarter. Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian heir whose assassination in 1914 in Sarajevo touched off the First World War—and the eventual collapse of his family’s empire.
Graz boasts one of Central Europe’s best-preserved historic centers. Walking along Herrengasse, the pedestrianized commercial thoroughfare, I stopped every couple of minutes to take pictures of the magnificent facades. Medieval and baroque, in pistachio, peach and butter-yellow, some are adorned with intricate ornamentation and others dotted with sculptures set into arched nooks.
From Graz, Salzburg is a threehour drive or a four-hour train ride northwest through staggeringly beautiful Alpine landscapes. The city’s name is derived from the German word for salt, the mineral that has been mined in the region for thousands of years. Beginning in the seventh century, Salzburg was ruled by a succession of religious leaders— archbishops and prince-archbishops who became political heavyweights.
The Salzach River splits the city in half; its eastern bank leads to New Town (Neustadt), and its western side gives way to the remarkably
preserved Old Town (Altstadt) with its celebrated Getreidegasse pedestrian street, a cobblestoned alley best known for its elaborate hanging signs. Shopkeepers for centuries have advertised their wares with fanciful swinging iron signs that depict their specialty—from makers of traditional lederhosen to McDonald’s.
Both Graz and Salzburg trace a Jewish presence back to the 12th century, when communities flourished before being harassed, tortured and then violently expelled in the late 1400s. It was another 400 years before Jews were allowed to resettle in these areas, yet when they did, they quickly became prominent in each
city. For centuries, it sheltered generations of Salzburg rulers. Today, the fortress is a hive of tourist activity, with multiple museums and an impressive collection of medieval weaponry.
Salzburg is filled with live classical music , especially in summer, when the Salzburg Festival draws global stars for five weeks of performances. Although I visited after the festival, I was able to find last-minute tickets for a Mozart concert at the Mirabell Palace , a riverfront palazzo in the New Town with lovely gardens.
Salzburg’s historic center is centered around Getreidegasse and its zone of elegant, shopfilled alleys and graceful plazas. Heading east on Getreidegasse, keep your eyes trained on street signs to spy when the name changes to Judengasse (Jews’ Alley). This area was the site of the medieval Jewish community.
The Salzburg Synagogue is set back unobtrusively from the street at Lasserstrasse 8, behind a metal gate featuring Stars of David. A small plaque on the street outside memorializes Jews murdered in the Shoah.
While technically nondenominational, the synagogue follows Orthodox rites. Thoughtfully reconstructed with a dove-gray facade and gracefully ornate chandeliers in its otherwise spare sanctuary, the temple nods to history with vintage menorahs around the bimah and a collection of prewar Torahs. There is also a Kristallnacht memorial sculpture in the courtyard. To see any of it, you’ll need to make advance arrangements; guided tours require a five-person minimum.
The Mozart Geburtshaus , a prominent daffodil-yellow house in the Old Town at Getreidegasse 9, is the composer’s birthplace and the
town’s top attraction. Filled with Mozart’s keyboards, furniture and family portraits, it’s a must-see for lovers of the classical genius. Unfortunately, its vintage stairs make it inaccessible to some.
But the Mozart Wohnhaus , a five-minute stroll across the river, was renovated following wartime destruction and is fully accessible. Music fans will enjoy this peek into the 1870s residence where Mozart composed some of his popular piano concertos.
Salzburg’s most popular music might well be the soundtrack you can sing along to during the Original Sound of Music Tour . The four-hour round-trip bus expedition from central Salzburg remains the most popular of Salzburg’s numerous offerings related to the movie.
city’s economic and intellectual life. One example is Theodor Herzl, the Austro-Hungarian father of Zionism, who spent some of his most productive years in Salzburg.
All that came to a violent end with the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. The Holocaust decimated southern Austria’s Jewish communities. The Jewish population of Graz and the rest of the Styria region stood at around 2,000 before Kristallnacht in November 1938; it is 150 today. Salzburg’s Jewish community, which was never large, numbered almost 250 in 1938. One hundred Jews now live in the city.
Less than a century later, Graz has an almost uncannily peaceful feeling—lively yet uncrowded, compact enough to cover on foot, abundant in both outdoor cafes and shady green spaces. Walking along its streets, retirees, local university students and scout troops are among those who appear to be relaxing in the sunshine.
And in smaller, considerably more expensive and far more touristy Salzburg, fans of both native son Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and The Sound of Music flock to a number of related sights.
These cities have witnessed tragic Jewish history, and Austria’s postHolocaust Jewish communities, despite official support, are pale shadows of their prewar selves. But after the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, I was gratified to vacation in southern Austria without seeing any of the anti-Israel graffiti and proPalestinian protests that are ubiquitous in much of Europe.
Despite a persistent strain of Nazi sentiment among some elements of the Austrian political class—exemplified by this year’s triumph in national elections of the far-right Freedom Party, founded by onetime Nazis— anti-Israel and anti-Jewish expression, including Holocaust denial, are restricted both by law and social
taboo, as they are in Germany.
What I saw instead, as I strolled across a pedestrian bridge in Salzburg, were plaques every 20 feet or so highlighting key figures from Salzburg’s Jewish and Holocaust history.
I later learned that I had been crossing the Marko Feingold Bridge, which connects the street where Mozart once lived to Salzburg’s Old Town and is named in tribute to the longtime leader of Salzburg’s postwar Jewish community. Feingold, a survivor of four concentration camps who died in 2019 at the age of 106, led the rebirth of Jewish life in the city and the rebuilding of the Salzburg Synagogue, a 1901 landmark that was reconstructed in the 1960s.
www.jewishheritage.at
+436-76-7366632
office@jewishheritage.at
In Graz, meanwhile, I was surprised at the prominent location of the soaring red-brick New Synagogue of Graz, whose glass dome towers over the Mur River. This house of worship was also rebuilt on the site of its predecessor—an 1895 edifice destroyed on Kristallnacht—and reopened in 2000.
In both square footage and prominence, these buildings are outsized in comparison to the winnowed communities they serve. But like Austria itself—reborn as a liberal democracy after an oftentimes turbulent and tragic 20th century—these Jewish communities are reminders of how optimism can triumph.
Hilary Danailova writes about travel, culture, politics and lifestyle.
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Northern Culinary Lights
Canadian Jewish women make their mark in the food world
By Adeena Sussman
Canada’s food scene is chockablock with female Jewish success stories, and Gail Simmons has some ideas about why.
“My nonscientific theory is that it’s because we are a younger country,” she said, and Canadian Jews are “less assimilated than American Jews.”
Simmons, 48, is the longtime host of the Bravo television cooking series Top Chef as well as a respected food authority. By age 35 she had written a memoir, Eating My Words, having already served in a top post at Food & Wine magazine and joined Top Chef, whose current season, billed as Destination Canada, is taking place north of the border.
“We’re still Jewish first, Canadians second,” said Simmons, whose mother was a culinary instructor. “It’s such an immigrant culture, and that’s still leaned into. So when Jewish women do food here, you can feel that in their personalities and work.”
One of those personalities is Eden Grinshpan, chef, social media personality and host of Top Chef Canada,
the long-running Canadian version of the original American series. She was in a celebratory mood when I spoke to her just before the scheduled spring release of her new cookbook, the vegetable-forward Tahini Baby.
“I’m so pumped for this project,” Grinshpan told me by phone from her home in Toronto. With nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram, Grinshpan, 37, is part of an impressive crop of Canadian Jewish women who have established themselves at the top of their country’s food chain, infusing their Judaism into their work in a variety of ways.
Grinshpan, whose father is Israeli, riffs on Jewish and Mediterranean flavors in Tahini Baby with recipes like smoky shakshuka sandwiches and eggplant schnitzel. Online, she posts snippets of her life as a wife, mom of two and in-demand food professional. (Her accompanying recipe for Baked Feta and Olives With Citrus is the perfect start to a Shavuot meal. For her dairy-luscious lemon ricotta babka, go to hadassahmagazine.org/food.)
Grinshpan, who hosted her first show, Eden Eats, for the Cooking Channel at age 23, lived for years in New York City but returned to her native Toronto with her husband, Ido, during the Covid pandemic. “There is a really strong, close-knit Jewish community in Canada, and in my case, Toronto,” she said. “We rally around one another and encourage one another to support our dreams.”
That community has been strengthened since the events of October 7, 2023, as Jews look to gather and seek comfort in shared spaces. Sadly, some of those spaces, including synagogues and kosher establishments in Toronto and Montreal, have been vandalized since the Hamas invasion.
Montreal Jewish food maven Kat Romanow said the incidents in her city, including a swastika on her syn agogue, has left her “feeling scared and on edge as a Jew in Montreal.”
But Romanow said she’s been encouraged by her rabbi, Lisa Grush cow, who released a statement after the incident that urged everyone— Jews and non-Jews—to educate
Cross-Border Cooking Canadian Jewish ambassadors of good food include (from left) Eden Grinshpan, Bonnie Stern and Kat Romanow.
Cheese Blintzes
Makes 10 to 12 blintzes
FOR THE CHEESE FILLING
1 1/3 cups high-quality ricotta
1 cu p plus 2 tablespoons full-fat cottage cheese
1 /2 cup p lus 1 1/2 teaspoons cream cheese (preferably Philadelphia)
1 egg
1/3 cu p plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
L emo n zest (optional)
FOR THE CREPES
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 1/4 cups flour
4 te aspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sour cream
cheese. This step is common in restaurants, used to intensify flavor and attain a velvety texture by removing excess water.
2. The next day, blend the strained cottage cheese in a blender until smooth. Transfer it to a large bowl, along with the strained ricotta, cream cheese, egg, powdered sugar and a bit of lemon zest. Stir to combine.
and oil and mix until incorporated. Transfer back into the original liquid mixture and whisk to combine.
6. Pour half of the liquid mixture into the dry mixture. Using a large spatula, mix until no lumps remain. Add the rest and stir well to fully combine. Let rest for 20 minutes before using.
up is cooked through (it will turn matte). Repeat the process for each crepe, brushing the pan with clarified butter between each one.
9. Fill the crepes: Lay one crepe on a plate, browned side facing up. Place about 1/3 cup of cheese filling at the lower-middle part of the crepe, leaving a bit of space around the edges. (As you go you’ll figure out what the best amount of filling is and where to place it.) Fold in the short ends and roll it, burrito style, making sure the closing seam faces down and is somewhat centered. If you don’t get a perfect roll, it’s not a huge deal, but it will help seal the blintz when you fry it.
3. Make the crepes: In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until fully smooth.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt.
Transfer one-third of the liquid
Baked Feta and Olives With Citrus
cup pitted or whole Castelvetrano olives
cup pitted or whole Kalamata olives
tablespoons fennel se eds
Zest of 1 /2 orange medium fresh cayenne chile, sliced
7. Cook the crepes: Set an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low and lightly brush it with clarified butter.
8. Tilt the pan toward you, then ladle about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan. Rotate the pan to evenly spread the batter in a circle. Cook just until the side facing
5 fr esh oregano sprigs
1 pound Greek feta, drained and patted dry with a paper towel
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 table spoons honey Flaky sea salt Goo d crusty bread, for serving
1. Position the top oven rack about 6 inches under the broiler. Preheat the oven to 400°.
10. Fry the blintzes: Add some more clarified butter to the nonstick skillet and set over medium heat. Place the blintzes, seam side down, in the pan. Fry until golden, then flip and repeat. Work in batches to avoid crowding.
11. Serve immediately with jam, fresh fruit, sweetened sour cream and crumbled meringue. If serving at a later time, reheat in a 300° oven for a few minutes, or gently re-sear in a pan.
2. In a small baking dish, combine the olives, fennel, orange zest, chile and oregano. Nestle the feta in the middle and drizzle everything with the olive oil.
3. Bake until the feta and olives have softened, about 20 minutes. Set the oven to broil and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden on top.
themselves about antisemitism, and in turn become activists and allies.
Romanow founded the Wandering Chew, a Jewish food nonprofit and culinary-event organizer, back in 2013 to document and preserve stories and experiences related to local business like St-Viateur Bagel and smoked meat emporium Schwartz’s Deli (neither is certified kosher).
“We’re all looking for Jewish Joy and connection these days,” said Romanow, 40, who said she was drawn to Judaic studies as an undergraduate and eventually earned a master’s degree in the subject with a focus on Jewish food history. Born into an Italian Catholic family, she converted to Judaism in 2019.
Montreal is also home to the clas-
sic Ashkenazi luncheonette Beautys, run by third-generation proprietor Elana Sckolnick, and to the popular retro diner Arthurs Nosh Bar, where co-founder Raegan Steinberg is a constant, bubbly presence in the dining room while her chef-husband, Alex Cohen, runs the (nonkosher) kitchen, cooking up standouts like a crispy chicken schnitzel sandwich on challah and matzah ball soup. Their new cookbook, Arthurs: Home of the Nosh, scheduled for a May 6 release, features the accompanying recipe for Cheese Blintzes—a Shavuot classic.
Many trace the origins of Jewish women in the food business north of the border to Winnipeg native Norene Gilletz,
who passed away in 2020 after decades living in Montreal and later Toronto. She wrote Second Helpings, Please! in 1968 as a fundraiser for B’nai Brith Women of Canada that to date has sold over 200,000 copies and taken on mythical status among Canadian Jews.
Bonnie Stern, another pioneering figure, ran an eponymous cooking school in Toronto from 1973 to 2011 that educated generations of Canadian cooks, Jewish and otherwise. Classes often included Jewish dishes like her famous cream cheese rugalach. “A lot of what I do isn’t specifically Jewish,” said Stern, 78, “but almost everything I do is inspired by my being Jewish.”
Among her dozen books—includ-
ing the most recent, Don’t Worry, Just Cook, from 2022—is Friday Night Dinners. Stern’s Shabbat meals, featuring her famous challah, are the stuff of legend in Toronto.
Other influential Canadian foodies include Top Chef Canada winner Erica Karbelnik, who runs a successful catering business with her chef husband, Josh; and Jamie Milne, who expanded her social media reach during the pandemic and now has three and a half million followers combined on TikTok and Instagram, where she goes by Everything Delish.
Milne posts recipes for Israeli and other classics like shakshuka and her bubbe’s chicken soup alongside trendy Mediterranean fare such as baked feta and tomato pasta. She’s now working
on her debut cookbook, which she plans to publish next year.
Since she married and had her son, Jack, in 2024, Milne said she’s become even more connected to her Jewish identity. She recently teamed up with Jewish food influencer
Ruhama Shitrit, of Ruhama’s Food on Instagram, for a sold-out cooking demonstration in Toronto.
“Food is my passion,” said Milne. “Being able to do more things Jewish and food together is the icing on the cake.”
Adeena Sussman lives in Tel Aviv. She is the author of Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Kitchen to Yours and Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen Sign up for her newsletter at adeenasussman.substack.com
Jamie Milne
‘October 8’ on Campus
‘The Wrath of Ahasuerus’ by Jan Steen
Documentary probes a highly charged atmosphere
By Curt Schleier
October 8 is depressing and frightening, warning of lurking dangers for the American Jewish community. It also is one of the most important films you’ll see this year.
That is not hyperbole. The documentary by filmmaker Wendy Sachs chronicles the surprising aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel on college campuses in the United States, exploring how and why social justice groups ended up aligning with the terrorist organization and how Jewish students reacted to their changed learning environment.
As Start-up Nation co-author and Call Me Back podcaster Dan Senor says in the film about the campus protests, “Rather than the outrage being directed at those slaughtering, the outrage was against Jews for objecting to being slaughtered.”
Senor is among some 40 personalities in the documentary, which features an impressive roster of lawmakers, actors, influencers, student leaders and others interwoven with archival footage and scenes from the past year and a half.
The film, now available on streaming platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV, chronicles the Hamas attacks themselves; demonstrations around the country that began in
the immediate aftermath; Jewish and Israeli students being targeted on campus; and the congressional hearings that featured university presidents unwilling to say whether calls for the genocide of Jews violate their schools’ code of conduct.
Among the former students interviewed for the film is Tessa Veksler, who on October 7 was student body president at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She describes how, after her post on social media mourned the victims of October 7 and supported Israel’s right to defend itself, she faced a barrage of antisemitic hate. There was even a targeted campaign to remove her from her position, though the special election to recall her narrowly failed.
For american jews who for decades had mostly felt comfortable in the halls of higher education, the antisemitic and antiIsrael upheaval was bewildering. One of the questions the film addresses is how Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), one of the main groups leading campus demonstrations, was able to organize so quickly. The nationwide protests and SJP’s activities required planning, funding and a high level of coordination. Indeed, October 8 looks all the way back to a 1993
FBI-wiretapped conversation between two Islamic leaders that suggests that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood financed SJP.
As Sachs said in a telephone interview with Hadassah Magazine before the film’s limited theatrical release in the United States in March, both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood “have been in America for decades, and they’re orchestrating what we’re seeing now on college campuses. They’ve infiltrated institutions like universities and the media. This is a very sophisticated strategy, and it’s paying dividends now.”
Bias in the media is another focus for Sachs, who examines three New York Times stories on the bombing of a hospital in Gaza City in October 2023 as proof of how anti-Israel sentiment can creep into the media. After the bombing and subsequent mass casualties, the Times didn’t wait for an Israeli investigation into the incident and ran with the Hamas version of the event, with the headline “Israeli Strike Kills Hundreds in Hospital, Palestinian Officials Say.”
Hours later, when questions arose about where the strike came from, Times editors changed the headline to reflect the uncertainty.
But when it became clear that Palestinian Islamic Jihad was responsible for the deadly blast, the headline changed again, accusing the organization of causing an “explosion.” Not a bombing, but an explosion—like a gas stove left on by accident.
October 8 also calls out the deafening silence from many Jews in the public sphere. As actor Debra Messing says in the film, “I felt betrayed” by celebrities and media personalities who refused to take a stand. Messing, along with a host of Jewish figures, is one of the executive producers of the film.
Tessa Veksler, former student body president at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, who has become an outspoken advocate for Israel on social media, describes how he had been one of the headliners at the November 2023 March for Israel in Washington. Yet, he told Sachs, “the fact that I, Michael Rapaport, was the biggest name there,” besides Messing, really says something about the attitude toward Israel in Hollywood.
The documentary is not entirely bleak. Sachs strives to end on a hopeful note, featuring pro-Israel New York Congressman Ritchie Torres and other non-Jewish allies who openly express their support for Israel. However, even their voices cannot fully dispel the fears described earlier in the film.
Sachs’s support of israel began when she was a teenager.
The director, who grew up in Miami, attended the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, which she described as “transformative.”
“My parents had never been to Israel,” said Sachs, who today lives in New York. “I don’t have any relatives in Israel. I went to this program in 1988, and I came back ready to join the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and move to a kibbutz.”
As a student at Northwestern University, she said, “I became a proIsrael activist on my college campus.”
Sachs has made only one previous documentary, Surge, about the unprecedented jump in first-time female political candidates in the 2018 midterm elections. For October 8, which was originally titled October H8te, she received funding from a number of Jewish philanthropies. “I think the Jewish community really came together,” she said. “When they heard about my film, there was an urgency to do something.”
Nevertheless, she said, there were difficulties in getting the film into theaters and film festivals. “The entire project was challenging every step of the way. I didn’t get representation. We were shut out of every film festival. Getting distribution was challenging.”
When the film opened in March in 100 theaters nationwide, it “struck a chord in the community, and it’s also reaching non-Jews,” Sachs said. “It just shows this film is not political. It’s about Islamic extremism and jihadism. I think the theme is really resonating.”
So how can American Jews address extremism and antisemitism on campus?
Instead of putting their names on the walls of university buildings, Sachs urged Jewish donors to universities to “sponsor fellowships and endow chairs for Middle East study departments for people who know the truth and are not just spreading propaganda.”
And, Sachs added, “we need to do a better job educating our young people, making sure they really proudly identify as Jewish.”
Curt Schleier, a freelance writer, teaches business writing to corporate executives.
JEWISH STORYTELLING IN PHOTOS
Among the 34 luminous photographs, many of women, displayed in Hannah Altman’s exhibition at Brandeis University’s Kniznick Gallery in Waltham, Mass., is an image of an older woman with her face raised toward the light. Underneath her chin is a Torah pointer that is positioned in a way that suggests it is holding up her head. Titled Yad —the Hebrew term for the Torah pointer, which helps readers keep their place as they chant from the scroll—the photograph is meant to symbolize engagement with Jewish text.
Altman’s exhibition, “As It Were, Suspended in Midair,” which runs through June, takes its name from a line in an essay by poet Hayim Nahman Bialik, exploring how interacting with Jewish text informs Jewish practice. (Images from the exhibition are also available on the artist’s website, Hannahaltmanphoto.com .)
The award-winning Boston-based photographer called her body of work “inspired by the throughlines in various Jewish stories. Many stories include uncertainty about the future, tales of tension and moments punctuated by a Jewish object or ritual.”
Take My Weight in Salt, a stark photograph of a pile of salt illuminated in sunlight against a blue-black wall. “Sunlight,” she said, “feels very mystical to me.” The photograph calls to mind the biblical story of Lot’s wife, who was transformed into a pillar of salt when she looked back at her home city of Sodom, despite an angel’s warning. But in the spirit of Jewish learning associated with the holiday of Shavuot, which begins this year on June 1, Altman said, there is no definitive interpretation of the work.
The images in her new photography book also embody recognizable Jewish motifs that invite commentary. Indeed, the book’s title, We Will Return to You (Saint Lucy Books), is a translation of the Hadran prayer traditionally said after completing the study of a Talmudic tractate.
As Altman said, “It’s a promise that the text is evolving, and one can constantly take from it and continue interpreting it.”
—Judy Bolton-Fasman
‘Yad’
Across
Fictional Jewish Moms
Fictional Jewish Moms
Tragic mother Rosa from Ozick's "The Shawl"
By Jonathan Schmalzbach
Easy, swinging gait
ACROSS
Anatomical ducts
1. Tragic mother
Free from pain
Rosa from Ozick’s “The Shawl”
The cookie that famously became kosher in the 1990s
6. Easy, swinging gait
Queen of Hearts output
10. Anatomical ducts
Mother Rose ___, from "Marjorie Morningstar"
14. Free from pain
Old Olds model
Diarist Frank
16. The cookie that famously became kosher in the 1990s
Bout enders, for short
Supposing so
17. Queen of Hearts output
Shena's willful daughter in "The Bread Givers"
Masked diamond man
18. Mother Rose , from “Marjorie Morningstar”
20. Old Olds model
"___ we having fun yet?"
21. Diarist Frank
Spanish years -Ball
22. Bout enders, for short
23. Supposing so
Grandma in "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"
Last-born: abbr.
French delicacy that is not
24. Shena’s willful daughter in “The Bread Givers”
kosher
Amount past due?
28. Masked diamond man
Throws a tantrum
Dog doc
31. “ ___ we having fun yet?”
Geological age
32. Spanish years
___ center
33. -Ball
South Pacific island
34. Grandma in “Are You There God?
"Arabian Nights" menace
It’s Me, Margaret”
Bellow's sentimental, dreamy mother of fiction
37. Last-born: abbr.
Wood sorrels
38. French delicacy that is not kosher
Kind of palm
39. Amount past due?
1972 treaty subj.
40. Throws a tantrum
Black ___
41. Dog doc
Roth's central casting
43. Geological age
Jewish mother
"Losing My Religion" rock
48. center
50. South Pacific island
51. “Arabian Nights” menace
54. Bellow’s sentimental, dreamy mother of fiction
57. Wood sorrels
59. Kind of palm
60. 1972 treaty subj.
61. Black
62. Roth’s central casting Jewish mother
65. Bug
66. “Losing My Religion” rock group
67. French-Swiss range
71. Accustom
6. Lots of, informally
28. “Back in the ”
Answers on page 52
72. Orthodox mother and detective in Faye Kellerman series
72. Orthodox mother and detective in Faye Kellerman series
7. Mined find
13. Up to now
8. capita
. Turkey part
9. Long, long time
. Rikki-Tikki-
29. Avian chatterbox
30. Blueprint
53. Word after time or space
52. First female Supreme Court justice
35. B1 is one: abbr.
54. Syrup source
55. “Give it !”
76. Rock ___
76. Rock
77. Egg on
77. Egg on
10. “La Bamba” singer Richie
. Most painful to the touch
36. Robbins of Baskin-Robbins
53. Word after time or space 54. Syrup source 55. "Give it ___!"
56. Cable option
78. Second word of Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"
11. Russian composer Anton
23. They loop the Loop in Chicago 24. Jib and spanker
42. Some like it hot
43. Foe
56. Cable option
58. Variant of a name denoting noble Islamic ancestry
79. Not kosher: variant
78. Second word of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”
12. Labor stoppages
58. Variant of a name denoting noble Islamic ancestry
Award-winning reads for Shavuot Standing at Sinai With a Good Book
Two traditions have come to define Shavuot: eating cheesecake and the all-night learning known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot. On June 1, the start of Shavuot this year, consider for your learning two recent award-winning books of Jewish erudition—The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic and The Triumph of Life. The first title comes from debut author Gila Fine, a lecturer of rabbinic literature at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem; the second from Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg, a renowned nonagenarian Modern Orthodox thinker. Scholars on opposite ends of their careers, both offer wide-ranging, groundbreaking reimagining of Jewish texts and philosophy.
Together, Fine’s Madwoman and Greenberg’s Triumph represent the arc of Jewish scholarship passed and renewed from generation to generation. The books stand as proud literary witnesses to the cycle of Jewish learning as we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. So, between bites of holiday cheesecake, read, learn and enjoy.
The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud
By Gila Fine (Maggid Press)
A good teacher helps us understand the material at hand; a great one puts it into context, giving us deeper understanding by providing the tools to go beyond specific teachings.
With The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic, which won the Rabbi Sacks Book Prize and the National Jewish
Book Awards Contemporary Jewish Life & Practice Myra H. Kraft Memorial prize, Gila Fine is that great teacher.
Despite her work’s title, it is not really a book about women. Rather, it is about the context—historical, sociological, cultural and gender— that shaped aggadah, or Talmudic stories. I learned not only about six named women in the Talmud—Yalta, Homa, Marta, Heruta, Beruria and Ima Shalom—but also about a fresh way to understand and analyze Talmudic text and compare it with the Jewish past and present.
Indeed, this companion to the Talmud should be required reading for all Jews—even those who don’t learn Talmud.
In chapters named after each of the women, the British-born Israeli scholar re-examines their stories, pairing them with the female archetype they seem to embody in the Talmud and analyzing that archetypal representation in literature and history through a deep reading of Talmudic text. For instance, Fine refers to Yalta—the most frequently mentioned woman in the Talmud—as “the Shrew.”
In the Talmudic recounting, Yalta destroys 400 jars of wine because a man, her husband’s guest, refuses to offer her a cup of wine. Yalta, Fine writes, is known for her “pitiable and placating husband” and as “the bad-tempered madwoman who feels herself scorned and unleashes her fury at everyone, and everything, in her path.”
Through her analysis, Fine upends rabbinic conventional wisdom around Yalta, transforming her story into one about a scholarly woman who understands how to use actions and metaphor—and her sharp tongue— to make a point about the importance of women.
Using these women’s stories, Fine explores in history, literature and in Jewish texts a wide range of topics, including reproduction and sexuality, status and wealth. Her approach allows readers to (mostly) forgive the negative assumptions about women made in the Talmud. She makes her case that female discrimination did not begin or end with the Talmud, releasing us to learn the hidden meanings behind the stories, even those that malign women, without anger. Unraveling these hidden meanings
is where the book shines. The story of Marta, who lived in the Second Temple era, during the destruction of Jerusalem, is ostensibly about a wealthy woman who repeatedly sends her servant to the marketplace for flour while oblivious to the fact that the grade of flour she is demanding is no longer available amid food shortages and starvation. When the servant returns emptyhanded, Marta decides to venture out herself barefoot and dies, as the Talmud states, after “dung stuck to her foot.”
Marta is “the Prima Donna”—a term, Fine writes, that is used to denote “an outrageous grande dame, exacting, obstinate, torrential, grousing and exasperating.” She then gives examples of prima donnas from Marie Antoinette to The Muppets’ Miss Piggy.
In Fine’s retelling, the Marta story is less “a morality tale of an intolerably wealthy woman” than about the moral failings of the rabbis of that time and their tragic results. (A lesson, one can argue, more relevant today than ever.)
Marta’s death is discussed in the Talmud in Tractate Gittin, which also details the events leading to the destruction of the Second Temple. Gittin teaches us not only about Jerusalem and its people but also repeated moments of rabbinic reluctance to make a halachic decision or act for fear of making the wrong move. Many rabbinic sermons have noted that the destruction of the Second Temple was due to sinat chinam, baseless hatred, but here, we find that rabbinic paralysis was just as much to blame.
Marta, however, is not paralyzed. She does go out, even though it leads to her death, serving as an example of activism. In fact, the very next story in the Talmud is about Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, who takes
action and saves what he can of the Jewish people. He learned the lesson from Marta that taking initiative is worthwhile, even when it seems too late.
To Fine, the moral lesson is clear: “We must act, even if it means we make a mistake…. The world is not a perfect place; uncertainty is the fundamental human condition. We can sit around, paralyzed, waiting for certainty, waiting for conditions to be just right—and then we will never do anything at all.”
It is less clear, however, whether such difficult-to-interpret parables are the most effective way to discuss ethics and teach moral lessons. Yet the fact that vital teachings of the Talmud are often missed or misused only strengthens the need for The Mad woman in the Rabbi’s Attic groundbreaking work.
Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll
is a writer and an activist living in Israel. As co-founder of Chochmat Nashim, she fights for a healthier Judaism where women are seen and heard.
The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism
By
Rabbi Irving Greenberg (University
of Nebraska Press/The Jewish Publication Society)
A good synagogue ser mon is usually sneaky. It starts slow, often leaving the congre
gants shifting in their seats as they wonder where the rabbi is taking them. By the end, however, the worshipers are left thoughtful if a bit dazed, their heads filled with a whirlwind of connections and ideas.
This is the case with The Triumph of Life, by noted scholar and author Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg. The book, which won the 2024 Natan Prize and also earned Greenberg the National Jewish Book Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, is dense but clearly written, a cap on a career that has included works such as The Jewish Way and For the Sake of Heaven and Earth. Readers who plow through will find themselves rewarded with a nuanced theology that sweeps all the way through Jewish history to the present.
Greenberg, an Orthodox rabbi, divides his book into three parts. In the first, he outlines what he calls Judaism’s “utopian vision”—that
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Ayelet Tsabari
human beings should live according to the concept of tikkun olam, based on an understanding that all are created in the image of God. Usually translated as repairing the world, tikkun olam, Greenberg writes, is better defined in Judaism as the “triumph of life,” i.e., that the forces of life should triumph over death and human suffering.
In the second section, Greenberg explains how, in his perception, tikkun olam emerges from a covenant between humans and God. This covenant, he writes, “fostered a profound, unbreakable connection to God, as well as a sense of community and a culture that treasured learning and literacy” and that sustained Judaism for 2,000 years.
The third section of the book is its most thought-provoking. Greenberg grapples with the challenges to Judaism posed by a host of issues in the 20th and 21st centuries, including modernity, totalitarianism and the Holocaust as well as the questions created by the modern State of Israel.
It’s the Holocaust, of course, that poses the most difficulties for Jewish theology. As a younger man, Greenberg arrived at a controversial understanding of the Holocaust as a breaking of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. But he has reconsidered that position and, in the new book, writes how the Shoah transformed, rather than destroyed, the covenant between God and humans.
Greenberg uses the kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum to flesh out that transformed covenant. As he describes it, tzimtzum is the “Divine
contraction meant to leave room for something besides God.” In other words, God diminishes or shrinks to make room for human beings. “God is profoundly hiding,” he insists, “so that we will put less energy into proclaiming God’s greatness and more energy into serving the Lord by redeeming the world and healing God’s creatures.”
There’s a lot to think about there. Greenberg borrows from different branches of Judaism as he employs an adjusted concept of God—it’s not that God is absent or uncaring, just hidden—as the ignition for the tikkun olam that he thinks all Jews, indeed all people, should pursue.
That Greenberg cobbles his core theological principles from various schools of Jewish thought should come as no surprise. He’s worked for decades to bring together disparate parts of the Jewish world, most notably with the pluralistic organization Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, which he co-founded with Elie Wiesel. He’s an Orthodox rabbi with respect for the liberal strands of Judaism, a Zionist willing to admit Israel’s faults and a husband who credits his wife, the pioneering feminist Blu Greenberg, with helping to turn him into a feminist.
While the majority of The Triumph of Life lies in teaching about the past rather than making recommendations and predictions, he does spend the final chapters looking to a Jewish future based on intrareligious dialogue, improving the role of women and injecting holiness into everyday life.
In the final pages of the book, Greenberg also writes that he remains a committed Zionist who believes that “we will see the long-term victory of the better angels of Israeli nature.”
There’s something comforting in
knowing that such an accomplished Jewish thinker who has written such a stimulating, nuanced book about the Jewish past is also an inveterate optimist about the Jewish future.
—Peter Ephross
Peter Ephross, the editor of Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words: Oral Histories of 23 Players, is a longtime writer about the Jewish world.
NONFICTION
A Thinking Mother’s Memoir
Mothers and Other Fictional Characters: A Memoir in Essays
By Nicole Graev Lipson (Chronicle Books)
In her debut collection, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters, Nicole Graev Lipson is unflinching and honest, poetic and learned, intelligent and emotional. Her 12 essays are seasoned with Jewish learning as they explore motherhood’s complexities, challenges and joys, showcasing the author, journalist and essayist’s impressive command of English literature and women’s history.
In one essay, “Tikkun Olam Ted”—named for a book that her son, Jacob, encounters at Hebrew school—Lipson finds the connective tissue between a kabbalistic account of the Creation and the act of parenting. Tikkun olam, as most define it, is the impulse to repair the world, make it a better place, an impulse that momentarily clashes with then
6-year-old Jacob’s rebelliousness.
After a couple of difficult parenting moments, Lipson describes making a welcome turn to Kabbalah through the concept of tzimtzum that God withdraws from the world to allow Creation to unfold. In Lipson’s talented hands, it becomes a metaphor for parenting, withdrawing to allow your children’s personality and sense of self to unfold.
Tzimtzum is also about the intensity of God’s light, which shattered during Creation, scattering divine sparks throughout the world. Considering the wreckage around us, Lipson observes, “Humans can become God’s co-creators, each of us doing our part to heal the world’s fractures.”
In “The New Pretty,” she talks about her mother’s rhinoplasty, which she had when Lipson was a child, and how her mother chased an elusive idea of beauty. “There are purple-black circles under her eyes, and bars of tape hold a mottled patch of gauze across her nose. It looks as though she’s been punched or pushed from a moving car. But these are wounds of her own choosing—the blood-fringed blooms of a wish long delayed.”
Lipson’s images of violence around the plastic surgery are affecting as she reminds us that the self-inflicted wounds are attempts at achieving beauty, noting the elaborate morning and nighttime skincare routines she herself undergoes in the name of attractiveness and good looks. She quotes the poet Adrienne Rich on the matter. “Like other dominated people, we have learned…to internalize men’s will and make it ours.”
Other essays challenge stereotypes, including “As They Like It,” about grappling with generational changes around gender identity, with the author comparing Shakespeare’s cross-dressing Rosalind with her
ON YOUR SHELF: NOVELS AND POETRY FROM NEW JERSEY TO TEXAS
By Sandee Brawarsky
The Red House By Mary Morris (Doubleday)
When Laura is a child in New Jersey, her mother goes missing, a moment that becomes the fault line in her life. Nothing is the same again. Decades later, Laura, the novel’s narrator, heads to her mother’s native Italy in search of clues. A cinematic story with many twists and a jagged timeline, Mary Morris’s writing is visually rich with scenes of Italian city streets and coastlines. Laura, who stages others’ homes for a living, finds the titular red house her mother would often paint, along the way encountering dark historical truths—and many personal truths as well.
The Baker of Lost Memories
By Shirley Russak Wachtel (Little A)
In this historical novel, a young woman in 1960s Brooklyn achieves her dream of becoming a baker, as her mother had been before the war, even as she faces silence about her parents’ Holocaust experiences. Author Shirley Russak Wachtel, herself the daughter of Holocaust survivors, braids a story about the reverberations of loss across generations and the power of inherited memory.
A Precise Chaos: Poems
By Jo-Ann Mort (Arrowsmith)
Jo-Ann Mort’s debut collection of poems involves memory, love and the passage of time in closely observed moments, like a Jewish woman in deep prayer on the New York City subway. Mort sets many poems in Israel and in locales taken from her wide travels and work as an advocate for peace. These are glimpses of a life still being well-lived and thoughtfully considered, and the “precise
chaos, that we, the living/ must endure.”
My Childhood in
Pieces:
A Stand-Up Comedy, a Skokie Elegy
By Edward Hirsch (Knopf)
Award-winning poet and author Edward Hirsch tries a new form, relating the story of his coming-of-age in the 1950s and 1960s in short pieces of prose, some only a sentence or two, in which he sharply describes his family’s Skokie, Ill., milieu and their mix of Old World Yiddishkeit and Midwestern pragmatism. The humor can be dark, but there’s also affection as he writes about a grandmother who plays poker every Saturday night and a grandfather who copies poems into the backs of books, along with Jewish gangsters, scrap metal salesmen, refugees from Europe and night club dancers.
Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land By Rachel Cockerell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
This is history and memoir told in a thoroughly inventive style, as Rachel Cockerell unfolds the true story of a largely forgotten plan to bring Jews fleeing the pogroms of Eastern Europe to Texas, where they were to create a Jewish homeland in an effort known as the Galveston Movement. She uses letters, articles, diaries and interviews to build a narrative of immediacy. Cockerell has a family connection to the events, as her great-grandfather was responsible for persuading a shipload of Russian Jews to travel to Texas—launching the movement.
Sandee Brawarsky is a longtime columnist in the Jewish book world as well as an award-winning journalist, editor and author of several books, most recently of 212 Views of Central Park: Experiencing New York City’s Jewel From Every Angle.
oldest child, Leigh’s, slow eschewing of things deemed to be of interest and importance to young girls.
Among the essays that resonated with me the most is “Hag of the Deep,” Lipson’s very personal and poignant account of giving her son over to be circumcised. Lipson writes that no one “forced this ceremony on me. …[but] I felt the futile desire to rewind time to the moment I first held his perfect body in my arms and resolved to fight for him.” I’ve never read a more evocative description of what was going through my own mind and soul as my son was carried on a pillow to enter the ancient Jewish covenant.
Like Lipson and Jacob, my son and I rocked in a glider before the ceremony, and all I could think of
was how much I wanted to protect him. The author articulates for me, and no doubt other Jewish mothers of sons—perhaps all Jewish mothers—this feeling of inevitability and surrendering. “Inside this room: warm skin, a glistening mouth, a tiny ear, a trickle of milk. Outside it: the flow of four thousand years, sloshing against the door.”
—Judy Bolton-Fasman
Judy Bolton-Fasman is the author of Asylum: A Memoir of Family Secrets.
For more reviews of books on motherhood, go to hadassahmagazine. org/books.
FICTION
The Last Dekrepitzer By Howard Langer (Cresheim Press)
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The narrative of this affecting work of fiction, which was recently named the winner of the National Jewish Book Awards Book Club prize, is straightforward. Rabbi Shmuel Meir Lichtbencher is the lone survivor of a small Polish Hasidic sect, the Dekrepitzers, who were wiped out during the Holocaust. A rebbe without a congregation wandering through the chaos of postwar Europe, he is also a master fiddler whose niggunim wordless Hasidic melodies—capture the attention of Black G.I.s in Naples, Italy, who bring him back with them to Mississippi after World War II. In the United States, Shmuel Meir is renamed Sam Lightup, and he acclimates to life in a rural, segregated Black community where he learns English from the locals, becomes a chicken farmer and shochet (ritual slaughterer), plays the blues with a band called the Brown Sugar Ramblers and teaches and preaches Jewish Bible stories at the local church. He also finds love with a Black schoolteacher named Lula Curtin, whom he marries after assisting in her conversion according to the laws of Orthodox Judaism. Eventually, Shmuel Meir and Lula have a baby, whom they name Moses. Yet the family finds life in Mississippi, where anti-miscegenation laws were on the state books until the 1980s, untenable. Shmuel Meir makes his way to New York City (his wife and son join him later), where he becomes an apprentice to an Austrian Jewish émigré, Schiff, the go-to violin restorer for the likes of Yehudi Menuhin and Nathan Milstein.
Shmuel Meir soon becomes an expert luthier himself. It is in New York City, halfway through this slim novel, that Langer’s prose soars. There, the author deftly shows, rather than spells out, Shmuel Meir’s fury at an Almighty who would allow for the genocide of his faithful followers.
The niggunim that he plays on the city’s streets and in its subways are not so much an expression of a man’s love for soulful, transformative tunes as they are a rebuke of a higher being. He also refuses to utter traditional Jewish prayers meant to strengthen personal faith. When others say the Shema, Shmuel Meir takes to his fiddle, calling his music “a kind of prayer,” as he tries to explain to a professional violinist toward the end of the book. “‘My playing, my playing…my playing a…’ He paused to find the word, ‘a reproach to God.’ ”
Beyond the nuanced, multidimensional portrait of its protagonist, the book excels on many levels. Its lyricism in its description of New York City institutions of yesteryear, including Steinberg’s Dairy Restaurant on the Upper West Side, is tempered by the articulation of certain inconvenient truths about the human propensity for prejudice—and worse. And it is also a reminder, particularly during these divisive times, of a period in history when Jews and Blacks found common ground in their respective struggles.
—Robert Nagler Miller
Nagler Miller writes frequently about the arts, literature and Jewish themes from his home near New York City.
the Thief By Allison Epstein (Doubleday)
Charles Dickens’s depiction of the character Fagin in Oliver Twist is irredeemably antisemitic—even more so than Shylock, that other famously reviled Jewish literary character from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Fagin, who takes in children off the street to train them in a life of crime, is, in Dickens’s description, cruel, manipulative, greedy, demonic and, as we’re told more than 300 times, a Jew.
From a contemporary perspective, the 1830s novel has other flaws, most glaringly its reliance on coincidences that defy credulity. Also, its hero, Oliver, is more acted upon than a character with his own volition. Yet we can’t seem to let Oliver
Twist go. The novel and its adaptations still ignite moral indignation and profound empathy over the treatment of orphans. It’s just a great yarn. So, what to do about Fagin?
“Sanitizing Fagin, or disowning him, seems like a loss to me,” writes Allison Epstein in the afterword to her engrossing novel, Fagin the Thief. In the vein of Wicked, Epstein retells a well-known tale from the villain’s point of view, challenging the reader’s preconceptions. Just like Gregory Maguire, who gave the Wicked Witch of the West a name—Elphaba—
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Robert
Fagin
and a backstory, in Epstein’s telling, Dickens’s character is given a first name—Jacob—and becomes more than “the Jew.”
The novel jumps back and forth through time, from the events of Oliver Twist to a rough chronology of
Jacob’s life, in the process revealing how he becomes the notorious thief. We meet him when he’s a boy of about 8. He and his mother, Leah, live in an impoverished Jewish ghetto in 1790s London. Young Jacob is loved by his mother but stifled by the
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rigidity of Jewish study and grinding poverty. He finds liberty and escape in the streets and the artistry of thieving.
While Wicked flips The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on its head, turning Elphaba into the hero, Fagin the Thief doesn’t give its protagonist a makeover so much as render him in three dimensions. Jacob, in Epstein’s telling, is less a cruel overseer and more of a father figure in a world where only the wealthy can afford morals. Epstein sketches the assembling of Jacob’s gang, giving compelling backstories to Oliver Twist characters like the fearsome Bill Sikes and the doomed Nancy. (Oliver, like Dorothy in Wicked, is reduced to an afterthought.) Readers of the Dickens original are in for a surprise when Epstein changes the fates of a few characters. Anything, I guess, can happen in fiction.
Epstein’s subject is the harshness of the world itself, and how it forces most to choose between bad options. It’s natural for the reader to compare Epstein to Dickens and she, like nearly all authors, can’t quite measure up to his descriptive powers and ability to write a scene. Yet her prose carries an understated power, so much so that she practically convinces the reader that she herself has spent a few nights scrambling for food and shelter in 18th century London.
In this time of alarming antisemitism, readers may look to Fagin the Thief to say something revelatory about Jew-hatred. For the most part, Epstein sticks to the story, avoiding meta-commentaries on antisemitism or Jewish existence. An anachronistic reference to a public controversy over Baron de Rothschild’s oath of office—which, the author notes, happened in 1847, not 1825, as it does in the book—feels like a forced attempt at gravitas and commentary.
If this book says anything about Jews, it is that, like anyone, a Jew can be a deeply flawed human in a way uniquely their own. Literature does Jews no favors by pretending anything else. —Bryan Schwartzman
Bryan Schwartzman is a writer living outside Philadelphia. Follow his work at Bryanschwartzman.com.
One Good Thing By Georgia Hunter (Pamela Dorman Books)
“She could carry the boy, but it would slow them down. He’s too heavy. She grips his small hand as they run....” Georgia Hunter’s One Good Thing begins with this desperate escape from the Nazis. The novel then takes readers back in time to 1940 in Ferrara, northern Italy, to the day Lili’s best friend, Esti, gives birth to her son, Theo.
Hunter’s first book, We Were the Lucky Ones—a best seller later adapted into a popular television miniseries— fictionalized her own family’s struggle to survive the Holocaust in Poland. In One Good Thing, Hunter shifts her focus to the story of Italy’s Jews during World War II.
Lili and Esti, two Jewish friends, meet at university. Lili is from Bologna; Esti and her husband, Niko, who is also Jewish, are from Greece. Although Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s 1938 Manifesto of Race—a set of race laws similar to Germany’s infamous Nuremberg Laws—causes Lili to lose her parttime job at a newspaper and threatens Esti and Niko with expulsion should
they lose their student visas, the friends still feel safe, convinced that everything will soon return to normal.
Two years later, life is unrecognizable. Niko has returned to Greece to try to save his parents. Self-confident and brave, Esti has joined the underground, forging fake Aryan papers for Jews. Lili, more fearful and timid, follows her friend, first to a shelter for Jewish refugee children from Eastern Europe and then to Florence, where the forgery network operates.
The rest of the novel unfolds as a fast-paced tale of courage and resilience as the war escalates, with the Allies landing in the south of Italy while Germany invades from the north. After Esti is bedridden following an injury sustained during a raid, she implores Lili to flee south with Theo. “Please Lili,” she begs. “You have to do this for me.”
The arduous journey to Rome involves trains, bicycles and weeks on foot. Pretending to be Theo’s mother, Lili discovers within herself the bravery she had admired in Esti. She stands up to Germans at checkpoints, smuggles papers and even helps Thomas, an escaped American prisoner of war—perhaps opening her heart to love—while always protecting Theo, who begins to call her “Mama.” Indeed, one of the novel’s themes is the nature of “motherhood”— is it defined solely by blood, or is it shaped by sacrifice and devotion?
Although One Good Thing is a work of fiction, it fills a gap in English-language literature about Italy during the Holocaust. Hunter vividly portrays how Italian Jews navigated new restrictions in the early war years, even as other European Jews were being deported and murdered. In real life, Italian Jews were not deported to Auschwitz until 1943, primarily from northern Italy, as the
Allies provided some protection in the south—hence Lili’s traumatic flight toward perceived safety.
The Italian setting also allows the novelist to explore the role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust. As Lili flees south with Theo, she encounters a network of helpers, including many Catholic clergy who are portrayed as essential in saving Lili, Theo and other Italian Jews, though the Church itself remains silent. However, when Lili questions why the pope does not “publicly condemn the barbarity,” Hunter may be attributing 21st century sensibilities to her 1940s hero—perhaps influenced by recently opened Vatican archives that detail Pope Pius XII’s decision to remain silent, even as Vatican officials insisted that he did what
The Destruction of European Jewry: From Berlin to Treblinka
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he could to save Jewish lives.
During her desperate journey, Lili hears rumors of Nazi death camps and sees moments of brutal violence perpetrated by German soldiers and her own Italian countrymen.
“I imagine explaining this war to my late mother,” she says to Thomas, “telling her what’s going on around us.... She’d never believe me.”
That sentiment left this reader with a poignant and timely reminder of current world events.
—Elizabeth Edelglass
Elizabeth Edelglass is a fiction writer, poet and book reviewer living in Connecticut.
Mazeltov
By Eli Zuzovsky (Henry Holt and Co.)
It would be easy to categorize Mazeltov as a coming-ofage story, and it is indeed that, but it is also much more. An unexpected, nonlinear bildungsroman told from multiple perspectives, the book explores queer sexuality, religion and anxiety amid the touchstones of Israeli young adulthood.
The debut novel from Eli Zuzovsky, an Israeli Italian writer, playwright and award-winning film director, is centered around precocious, sensitive Adam Weizmann. The action follows the Israeli boy at different points in his life, from his upsherin, a ceremony centered around a boy’s first haircut at age 3, on Mount Meron to his bar mitzvah in 2009, which takes place during Operation Cast Lead as tensions between Israel and Hamas continue to escalate, to his mandatory military service and young adulthood.
Throughout, his family’s dysfunction is in full force and apparent to others, including his best friend, Abby, who has plenty to say.
In chapters that shift in time and perspectives, we hear from Abby as well as from Adam’s absentee father and his loving grandmother, Mémé, among others. Zuzovsky also presents the perspectives of Khalil, a Palestinian poet and a caterer at Adam’s bar mitzvah.
Each character’s thoughts are interspersed with Adam’s memories, providing readers with insights into his childhood traumas, social exclusion and isolation—yet each is isolated in their own way. Abby writes in a letter to Adam, “Remember how you told me I was the happiest person you’d ever met? I didn’t respond back then, you must’ve thought I was too focused on my ice cream, which I absolutely was, but the truth is that I’m incredibly unhappy. You’d be amazed.”
His father, who went on a hike instead of attending his son’s bar mitzvah, promises: “Somehow, sometime, I will make things right. I promise,” later explaining, “Maybe one day you’ll understand; being a parent is the most terrific pain.”
But it is a chapter from the perspective of Adam’s cousin Ben, in a section that also involves Khalil the poet, that is the book’s turning point.
Set on the day of Adam’s bat mitzvah, the events leave an indelible mark on the 13-year-old, allowing him a glimpse of what his future could be.
Years later, Adam finds himself at a bar in New York City sitting next to Khalil, whom he recognizes, though the recognition is not reciprocated. It is an encounter filled with things left unsaid, lost hope and uncertainty; one of those encounters that has the capacity to make one realize how complicated life can be.
While points and perspectives in the novel may seem irrelevant or extraneous, Zuzovsky manages to weave them together into a short novel, only 200 pages, that will linger in your mind long after you finish it. There are no neat and tidy endings. No fully resolved issues or reassurances that things will be easy. Instead, this poignant story focuses on the complicated and often painful task of growing up and the messiness of being human.
“Yes, things will change; they always do. You rarely notice it because the world is fast,” Zuzovsky writes near the end of the book. “But now you see. It won’t be instantaneous or swift or anything like you had in mind.” —Jaime Herndon
Jaime Herndon is a writer and avid reader. Her work can be found at Book Riot, Undark, Kveller, Motherly and other places.
An exquisite coffee table book, Israel Florilegium (ERETZ Magazine) features 220 illustrations of Israeli wildflowers, originally commissioned in the 1960s and 1970s by the Israel Nature Reserves Authority. With Hebrew and English descriptions and divided by region—from the desert to Mount Hermon—it beautifully captures the country’s rich floral diversity.
30NOVEMBER 12, 2025
Guide to Jewish Literature
Also available online with purchasing links. Go to hadassahmagazine.org and click on Guide to Jewish Literature.
Clara’s seCret
Stephan R. Frenkel
This critically acclaimed bestseller presents the captivating story of Clara Prinz, a remarkable woman forced to leave her native Berlin in 1939. As Clara traveled alone on a voyage into the unknown, she turned to memories of her adolescence during La Belle Époque – the Beautiful Era filled with optimism and cultural transformation at the dawn of the twentieth century. Through Clara’s chance encounters with notable personalities of the period, Clara’s Secret weaves an unforgettable tapestry of personal and historic events. Clara’s Secret is ultimately a compelling story of the advancement of humankind and the survival of its decline.
Limited Time Offer: Throughout June Clara’s Secret Kindle Version is available on Amazon for $1.99.
G
itel’s Freedom
Iris Lav
An illuminating look at Jewish immigrant life in early-1900s America, Gitel’s Freedom is a compelling tale of women’s resilience. Gitel and her husband Shmuel start life in Chicago, but when the Great Depression hits, and again when Shmuel’s health repeatedly fails, they must adapt to more challenging circumstances than expected. How will Gitel persevere and find freedom?
Available on Bookshop.org.
the G irls oF J erusalem and other stories
Marsha Lee Berkman
From the opening vignette in which a photograph is a silent witness to history to the powerful coda “Miracles,” a novella set against the vibrant panorama of the Yiddish theater in America, the fifteen memorable narratives in The Girls of Jerusalem and Other Stories span continents and eras as they chronicle love and loss, piety and heresy, mysticism and rationality to reinterpret ancient tropes of exile, dislocation, and profound change, revealing a new understanding of Jewish history and memory. “Luminous tales of exile and loss that bequeath new life” Kirkus Reviews (starred review). A best book of the year selection. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, and wherever books are sold.
the m idwives’ e sCape : From eGypt to J eriCho
Maggie Anton
Ever wonder about the mixed multitude who fled Egypt with the Israelites? Who were they? What was it like for them both to receive the Ten Commandments at Sinai? Where did they go and what did they do during the “missing” 35 years in the wilderness? From Maggie Anton, award-winning author of Rashi’s Daughters, comes historical novel The Midwives’ Escape: From Egypt to Jericho to answer these and many other questions about the Exodus. “It takes creativity, … and skill to fashion a story set between lines of Biblical text.” — Richard Elliott Friedman. Available on Amazon and Bookshop.org.
the torah road trip: abraham r ides shotGun
Bruce Levin
Based on a true story … come along on my journey in my Chevy Blazer (dubbed the “Torah Blazer”) of transporting a Torah that my father Abraham had donated to our former temple in Connecticut back in the 1960’s, to my current temple outside of Chicago. My reflections of my dad’s life and our relationship, accompanied by some of the principles in the Torah, make for quite a ride and an inspiring story. It’s a heartfelt memoir that blends the beauty of the Torah, the Jewish faith, and father and son relationships. Fun idea for a Father’s Day gift. Available on Amazon.
Florida Gold
David Rosen
Recently retired Chicago detective Ben Gold seeks a fresh start in sunny Delray Beach. But before he has a chance to learn the nuances of pickleball and enjoy the culinary delights of early bird dinner specials, he is asked to prove the innocence of a young man suspected of murder. Join Ben as he tries to navigate in his new environment, surrounded by new friends and a legion of crazy locals. With Florida Gold, first-time author David Rosen perfectly captures the glitter and the weird of Southeast Florida. Available exclusively on Amazon Kindle.
aliyah: a J ewish Family saGa
Harold Emanuel
Sixteen-year-old Lazar Hermanski and fourteenyear-old Daria Solov survive the 1881 Warsaw pogrom, endure a perilous journey in steerage, and arrive in New York. They marry, have a family, and navigate the conflict of adjusting to their new country and culture while attempting to follow their Jewish traditions. Throughout the story, family members participate in historical events, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the women’s suffrage movement, and interact with historical figures such as Lillian Wald, Fanny Brice, and Fiorello LaGuardia. Available on Bookshop.org.
From h ere : lessons i n love & loss From 9/11 Felice Zaslow
Felice and Ira Zaslow’s love story spanned almost four decades, from the beaches of Far Rockaway to a comfortable suburban existence on the south shore of Long Island. Then came the morning of September 11, 2001. Through the days, weeks, and months that followed, Felice had to find her way through unfathomable trauma, on a path she had to forge herself, seeking guidance and role models along the way. This remarkable and inspiring memoir puts a very personal face on a national tragedy, facing down the darkness by looking for the light that is always present.
Available on Amazon and Bookshop.org.
portrait oF a r abbi- historian: how did we G et h ere?
Rabbi Lance J. Sussman
Rabbi Lance J. Sussman announces the launch of his latest book, Portrait of a Rabbi-Historian: How Did We Get Here? With a foreword by Jonathan D. Sarna, his newest anthology explores the history and thought of American Reform Judaism in a collection of articles he wrote while pursuing a dual career as a rabbi and a scholar over the last forty years. This book joins Portrait of an American Rabbi: In His Own Words (2023) and Portrait of a Reform Rabbi: Continuity and Change (2024) to form a trilogy by this prolific writer and historian of the American Jewish experience.
Available from Bookshop.org, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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Forest walk on a Friday
Lynne Golodner
This lyrical essay collection shares vivid visits to far-flung locations and insights on nature, relationships and the journey to the self. Detailing her ten-year foray into Orthodox Judaism, Golodner writes about marriage and motherhood, divorce and single parenthood, and finding love again at midlife. Forest Walk on a Friday offers heart-and-soul stories on the many possibilities for happiness, home and wisdom available to us all. Available on Bookshop.org.
i love you,
Charlie tanner
Lynne Golodner
Likened to Where the Crawdads Sing, this suspenseful, steamy novel features a woman starting over after 20 years in a Cape Breton cult. But the past won’t leave her alone, even in small-town Vermont, where she reconnects with family and falls in love with a hot rabbi. I Love You, Charlie Tanner evokes the unlikely romance of Netflix’s Nobody Wants This and the passionate intrigue of Lucy Score’s Forever Never. Preorder available on Amazon.com; Available June 12 everywhere.
the m urders
oF Zion
Melvyn Westreich
Shimon Lincoln and Dafna Lachler, the FRUM sleuthing duo, are back as they uncover a murder in the Holy Land and their honeymoon/ vacation is disrupted. The Israeli government seems to be in cahoots with the murderer and someone is trying to kill them. Rabbi Kalmonowitz is back giving insights into Judaism and his ‘hints from the heavens.’ #3 in the Lincoln/Lachler Mystery series (following Murder in the Kollel and The Kosher Butcher). Available from Amazon, 458 pp.
G ittel
Laurie Schneider
Fiddler on the Roof meets Little Town on the Prairie when 13-year-old Gittel Borenstein and her family, survivors of the deadly Kishinev pogrom, start over as farmers in 1911 Central Wisconsin. “Gittel comes of age…in this evocative novel saturated in Jewish heritage, the importance of family, and the power of hope.” Booklist. “Gittel and her family…will be remembered long after one finishes reading.” Jewish Book Council Bookshop.org; www.laurieschneider.com.
To advertise here, please call Randi O’Connor at (212) 451-6221, or email roconnor@hadassah.org. Space is limited.
A Call for Redemption
Hostages, rescues and ransoms | By Joseph Lowin
There is no issue that so unites and so divides the people of Israel today than the fate of the hostages in Gaza. As always, Jewish texts and traditions, and Hebrew roots, have a role to play in the discussion. Some pundits have pointed poetically to the biblical Samson, akin to a Jewish Hercules, as the embodiment of Jewish power to be emulated. After he was captured by the Philistines and taken as a hostage to Gaza, he destroyed the Philistine temple, bringing it down on himself and his captors.
Then, there are the lessons we learn from the Hebrew root ה-ד-פ (pehdalet-heh), to redeem, rescue.
According to Maimonides,
דִפִּ (pidyon shevuyim), redeeming captives, is the highest mitzvah on the Jewish value scale. Yet, our practical Talmudic sages cite the unforeseen consequences of paying ransom and declare, ןיִ דפִּ ןיִֵאֵ (ein podin), “One does not ransom captives [at all costs]”— however coldly those costs may be calculated.
In Scripture, God often uses the root to speak of rescue by force, stating that יִִתִ יִ דפִּ (paditi), “I rescued,” the Israelites from Egypt—in this case, using plagues and not a ransom. While pagan religions sacrificed their first-born sons to a god, the Torah instituted a ceremony still performed today called ןיִ דִפִּ ןֵבֵַּה (pidyon ha-ben), “redemption of the [first-born] son.” The ritual involves the תִוּדְפִּ (pedut), “substitution,” of a coin, which is given to a Kohen, instead of the sacrifice, or lifelong service to God, of the son. A ןיִ דִפִּ (pidyon), gift, is, in Hasidic circles, what one brings to an audience with their rebbe.
Psalm 49:9 warns the rich that םָשְׁפַנַ
דפִּ
(ve-yekar pidyon nafsham), “The price for saving their life is so high,” i.e., that even great wealth will not assure their place in the afterlife. In Exodus, God tells Moses to warn Pharaoh that when the fourth plague brings swarms of insects, תִדפ
(ve-samti pedut), “I will place a protective distance [between My people in Goshen and yours in Egypt].”
Historically, the kidnapping of Jews for ransom was so widespread that many Jewish communities would set aside money for a תִיִ
(keren pedit), redemption fund. Our root is also found in commercial contexts where, for example, merchants, after tallying their pedut, daily revenue, will use the word pidyon for cashing a check. The plural of the root, found in financial transactions, designates תִנַיִ
(pidyonot), ownership shares, or stock certificates. Additionally, it refers to merchandise purchased with business partners.
And still we debate, should we follow Samson’s show of strength or Maimonides’ counsel of redemption no matter what? Today, this difficult question, unavoidably intertwined with our history and Jewish DNA, seems to hover over all of us.
Joseph Lowin’s columns for Hadassah Magazine are collected in HebrewSpeak, Hebrew Talk and his most recent book, Hebrew Matters, available at gcrr.org/gcrr-press/hebrew-matters
QUESTION
Idina Menzel
Nourishing the neshama on Broadway |
By Curt Schleier
Tony award-winning actor and singer idina menzel is now starring in what may be the most positive Jewish play on Broadway in decades. In the musical Redwood, Menzel plays Jesse, a New York City art gallery owner and bereaved Jewish mother.
Unable to cope with the approaching anniversary of the death of her son from a drug overdose, Jesse, who is gay, leaves her wife and job and travels across the country to Eureka, Calif. There she meets Becca, a researcher studying the redwood forest canopy, who helps her appreciate the peace of the trees and her Jewish heritage.
“Lo tashchit,” Becca tells Jesse before her first climb up a tree, using a term that means do not waste and refers to a Jewish ethical principle about preserving nature and avoiding needless destruction. Becca, who is Black and Jewish, tells Jesse that the concept is also about caring for oneself—one’s neshama, or soul. Such moments of Jewish connection and healing are embedded throughout the musical.
In an interview, Menzel, 53, spoke about her Jewish identity, her new role and why she makes cantors uncomfortable when she goes to services. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
How did you craft the character of Jesse along with playwright and lyricist Tina Landau?
Tina tells this story herself, so I’m not giving too much away. While working on Redwood, her sister’s 23-year-old son passed away from a fentanyl overdose. She said she had to disappear for a while. She called me six months later and said, “I think I now understand Jesse.” We were never sure why this woman would go as far away from her world as possible. She goes east to west, drives as far as she can go. The only thing left is that she can go up into the canopy of her redwood. And that adventure, we like to say, transforms her.
At what point did Landau and you decide that Jesse should be Jewish?
Jesse is like me. She’s always been Jewish. She’s a bad Jew, which I think I am as well. I’m not very religious, but I’m very connected to my culture and tradition and have great pride in being Jewish. But I didn’t go to syn-
agogue all the time growing up and I’m not great with all the holidays.
What Jewish education did you have growing up on Long Island, N.Y.?
I went to Hebrew school for two years before I quit. I remember saying to the teacher, “Why would God allow all of this [Holocaust] pain.” She got kind of annoyed with me for the question. I was disturbed by that and lost interest. I was a huge disappointment to my extended Jewish family, because they all thought if I had a bat mitzvah that my haftorah would be beautiful because I was a good singer.
It’s never too late to celebrate a bat mitzvah.
Now I’m thinking maybe I’ll do it. The funny thing is, every time I go to temple for, say, one of my son’s friends’ bar mitzvahs, the cantors spot me in the congregation and get nervous. After the service I’ll go up and say it was so beautiful, and they’ll
reply something like, “Oh, well, my falsetto was a little weak because I’ve been getting over a cold.”
You had an early indication that the stars were aligned for Redwood. Tell us about it.
Our opening night was Tu B’Shevat [the New Year for Trees]. It was just a coincidence. We didn’t realize it until a couple of days before, but I thought that was a great sign for us.
Did your work on Redwood awaken a deeper sense of your own Judaism?
Definitely. Hearing the teachings of tikkun olam and lo tashchit, I think about that every night. It makes me want to do more, to give back to society and also be more forgiving of myself and other people. I love Judaism’s nonjudgmental way to talk about healing and the way we deal with loss in our life.
Curt Schleier, a freelance writer, teaches business writing to corporate executives.
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