Beshert | Wait, No Drama?
He once asked me, “Does it bother you that I spend so much time inside my head?” And hand to G-d, my answer was, “I’m sorry, what did you say? I wasn’t listening.” Now if that isn’t beshert…
More Than Half a Century Later, Remembering Two Fallen Comrades
n the weeks immediately following the 1967 Six-Day War, I was part of a contingent of international civilian volunteers—mostly Jews—sent from Jerusalem to El Arish, in northern Sinai. It was a mission that marked my life indelibly, and left me with a debt it has taken more than half a century to repay.
In ‘Soon By You,’ Leah Gottfried Tells Stories About Modern Orthodox Dating
When Soon By You, a comic web series, started its life as a 15-minute film in 2016, the prospect of a series seemed unattainable—though “it was certainly a dream.”
Aid to Israel: Has J Street Changed the Game?
J Street, the left-leaning pro-Israel lobby, wrapped up its three-day conference in Washington, DC last week. In an email to supporters summing up the meeting (and making a pitch for donations), the group’s president Jeremy Ben-Ami announced, “We’ve changed the conversation” about Israel, noting that the conference brought the issue of Israel to the Democratic presidential race agenda and that candidates have discussed, among other issues, their plans to “employ U.S. leverage to combat settlement expansion.” Or, in other words, J Street made using American foreign aid to Israel into an issue Democrats are willing to fight for.
In ‘The Kingmaker,’ Lauren Greenfield Explores Rewritten Histories
“I’ve often had access to ‘inside worlds,’ whether it’s media or wealth or celebrity, where I’ve then taken a critical perspective.”
Beshert | ‘April Fool’s!’—The Prank That Made Them Partners
We settled on his idea to prank mobile users into thinking they were getting a call from Ashton Kutcher himself. And for the next week or so, the two of us “partnered” on a project that would go on to garner media attention from national publications large and small; an April Fools’ Day prank that did, in fact, fool millions of people over the course of one, silly day that spring.
Not Your Grandmother’s Democratic Party
Many in the pro-Israel community joined for a collective oy vey moment last week when leading Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren added her voice to a growing choir of progressives threatening to use America’s aid to Israel as a means of influencing Israel’s policy in the West Bank. Looking at the Democratic field, here’s where we stand: Three of the four frontrunners are threatening to cut U.S. aid to Israel. Biden stands alone in his refusal to join.
In ‘Call Me by Your Name’ Sequel, a Chance at Second Love
If Call Me by Your Name, the bestselling 2007 romance novel by André Aciman, was an ode to the passions and discoveries of a first love, then Aciman’s new sequel, Find Me, asks us to believe in something much more perilous: second love.
Beshert | A Life of Adventures and Surprises
Most of our adventures have been wonderful. We’ve met and become friends with great people, seen beautiful things, and have become part of people’s lives. (Some adventures weren’t so good; accidents, hospital stays, illnesses, and sometimes boredom and culture shock.)
All Candidates Pass the Pro-Israel Test. Now What?
As always, Jewish voters will make sure their candidate is pro-Israel, in the broadest meaning of the term, and then they’ll move on to decide based on issues such as health care, the economy, gun control, etc., like any other voter. All candidates in both parties pass the pro-Israel test.
Directors and Dictators: Jewish Films at the Chicago International Film Festival
A preview of some of the films from this year’s Chicago International Film Festival.
Beshert | Meant to Be?
For the first hour or so, it seemed like he was putting on airs, so I didn’t feel particularly interested. But at some point, he suddenly dropped the act. In retrospect, he remembers feeling that he was too tired to keep it going. He told me his mother’s memorial service was the next day, and he showed me the eulogy he had written. It was not a normal date. And I’ve never gotten to know someone so quickly. I don’t remember how I felt or how I reacted to the news of his mother’s death, but Tom remembers I took his hand.