A Bintel Brief by Liana Finick

Book Review // A Bintel Brief

A heartfelt letter sent to a newspaper editor a century ago has long stayed with me. I happened upon it decades after it was written. With his soul in torment, a New York factory owner had turned to the editor for advice. He was not paying his workers— like him, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe—nearly enough for them to make ends meet. He had a business to run, and there were limits to the wages he could afford. Still, the suffering of his employees and their families tore at his heart. What should he do?

Haredi print

Jewish Word // Haredi

The term haredi comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to tremble” (hared) and a verse in Isaiah, in which God says, “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word.” “Haredi really means those who are in awe, or who tremble or quake,” says Samuel Heilman, professor of sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York.

Peter Geffen and fellow civil rights worker Mickey Shur with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Remember the Moment: 1964 Civil Rights Act Turns 50

The battle for civil rights was won in part by its most visible fighters: the heroic sit-in activists and Freedom Riders who risked it all in the name of a fair and desegregated nation. But courage comes in many forms. The movement’s success also owes the diverse groups that participated in making this moment possible—including Jews.