The Blogs | The Marketplace of Ideas

Apply for a Blog

Illustration by Liana Kerr

Helen Maryles Shankman

What do I wear to my daughter's wedding?

I wear black. Just black. All the time. But the bride wants me in gold

Illustrative. Buttons depicting US and Israeli flags. (iStock)

Perry Gershon

I’m a Democrat; my support for Israel doesn’t waver

We Democrats must stay true to our principles, and that means staying true to the one democracy in the Middle East

Illustrative. A family in silhouette. (iStock)

Jordana Horn

My new parenting goal: To be like God

From toilet training to conversations about consensual sex, my 6 kids need different kinds of love and attention

Illustrative. Waterfall from the rocks. (Pixnio)

Singing out water from the rock

Haazinu is an ode to God, to our relationship with God, and to the magnificence of Torah; this is my ode to Haazinu

Emotional intelligence (Ha’azinu 5779)

To entrench Torah in the hearts of the Israelites, Moses turned to song — music, poetry, literature, and metaphor

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech to officials at Malacanang palace in Manila, August 6, 2018. (AFP photo/Ted Aljibe)

Gilad Cohen

On Israel and Duterte: It’s complicated, but good

It was our professional obligation to host him, and the fruits of the visit are already evident

Kesher Israel (Wikimedia Commons)

Andrew Cooper

Our former rabbi victimized women. Here's how we made our synagogue safer.

Kesher Israel reacted swiftly and decisively to the illegal actions by its longtime rabbi Barry Freundel

See all Featured Posts

Blogs topics

Latest posts

Sep 22, 2018, 8:10 PM

In Memory of Ari Fuld: A Life Changing Shiva Visit

“Israel is acquired through painful sacrifice.” On several occasions, Rabbi Yonah Fuld, father of Ari who was murdered a day earlier, said these words. He went on – “Until now I’ve never experienced this reality…now I understand.” Together with Rabbi...

Sep 22, 2018, 6:07 PM

Yom Kippur: Some Personal Reflections and Lessons

Forty-five years ago, on that ill-fated Saturday afternoon, the piercing sirens shattered our lives. I know this is a well-trodden cliché but this is how it happened. My brother and I were at our mother’s flat in Haifa, rejoicing...

Sep 22, 2018, 6:04 PM

Can’t Complain

An old joke tells of the Israeli returning to Tel Aviv after some years living in New York. A friend asks him how it was in New York. “Oh, I can’t complain,” he replies. “How was the food?” “Can’t complain.” “And...

Taylor Jade King

Sep 22, 2018, 2:18 PM

Towels on the Judaica and Dreams

I sit at the desk in my bedroom in what I call my Jewish Corner—the section of my room that contains my certificates from my time living in Israel as an Israel Teaching Fellow and all the Judaica I...

Nicholas Jagdeo

Sep 22, 2018, 9:33 AM

Moving to Tel Aviv? Here’s what you should know.

Last month, I was posed the question, "What should I know before moving to Tel Aviv?", and I thought I'd share my answer with everyone. 1. Weather: Tel Aviv is hot during it's very long summers, which begin in May and...

Elaine Rosenberg Miller

Sep 22, 2018, 9:32 AM

All our lives, my sister and I had heard about my father’s aunt, how she had stayed behind with her elderly parents as her siblings and their families fled towards the Soviet Union at the end of the lull...

Sep 22, 2018, 12:37 AM

New York Magazine’s Deceitful Complicity in Demonizing the Jewish People

Regarding the Department of Education’s attempts to protect Jewish college students, Eric Levitz of New York Magazine shamelessly defrauds his readers. In “Trump’s DOE Vows to Help College Students Restrict Free Speech (About Israel),” he lies to the public...

Arnold D. Samlan

Sep 22, 2018, 12:35 AM

May You Find Balance in This Off Balance Season

By this point, those of us who are fairly traditional Jews begin to get confused every year. These weeks are disorienting, as we work for a few days of each work week, take a few days off, work again and...

Sep 22, 2018, 12:34 AM

Angels Amongst Us

In the days of the Beit Hamikdash the focal point of Yom Kippur was not the stirring the melody of Kol Nidrei, which we have just recited, or the heartfelt pleas of Neilah. It was instead the ritual of...

James R. Russell

Sep 22, 2018, 12:34 AM

The University of Michigan and BDS

First of all, chevra, a gut gebensht yohr! Peace upon all your houses. May Israel, our Arab neighbors, and the whole world enjoy a 5779 of peace and health, of joy and of yiras shomayim, fear of Heaven. Now then....

Load more