Betty Soibel, at The Blogs

Betty Soibel

Jerusalem Tour Guide and Educator

Feb 29, 2024, 7:11 PM

Roie and Sigalit Mimoni, February 2024 (Samantha Pearlman)

At the turn of the 20th century, early Zionist thinkers dreamt of the “New Jew”. A bold, brazen pioneer, who wasn’t weighed down by the traumas of the Diaspora. A Jew who could take life into his own hands,...

Jul 24, 2019, 1:02 AM

The emergence of hope: a thank you to our community

On June 18th, I got a call from my boyfriend, Zvi, just as I was walking in the door from a day of Shatil Fellowship programming. He was calling from the doctor’s office; that much I knew. I had...

Feb 28, 2019, 2:05 PM

Featured Post

Walking the tightrope between modernity and tradition: A Bedouin story

It's a marvel how these West Bank communities maintain their ancient lifestyle amid Israelis and Palestinians embracing modernity

Dec 18, 2018, 12:02 PM

But really, why include women’s voices?

A reflection on how planning can incorporate “to see, but not to be seen” as an expression of independence for Bedouin women.

Nov 20, 2018, 8:21 PM

How do you say cultural appropriation in Hebrew?

I remember the very first time I heard the term cultural appropriation. I was a sophomore at Columbia, hanging out in my dorm kitchen, when a friend pointed out that another student, one particularly known for her activism, was...

Nov 6, 2018, 9:49 PM

Palestinian women put themselves on the map

Over the last year, perhaps as a reaction to the #MeToo era, I’ve become hypervigilant about the “trendiness” of feminism. An avid member of many women’s Facebook groups, I often read posts about how new “#girlpower” or “#strengthinpink” initiatives...

Oct 29, 2018, 1:01 PM

While we wait for an agreement: Reflections on Khan al Ahmar

Early in the morning two weeks ago, following panicked messages the night before hinting that demolition was imminent, I joined a group of Bimkom employees heading to Khan al Ahmar. Bimkom has been working with Khan al-Ahmar for over...

Oct 28, 2018, 2:22 PM

Putting unrecognized villages on the map

Well known to friends and family as a sometimes perilous, but usually harmlessly inept, navigator, I often look to the shining blue dot on Google maps as a beacon of light and purpose. I am shameless in my similarity...

About Me

Betty Soibel is a tour guide and Jewish educator. She shares her love of Jerusalem through storytelling and dual narrative education. Her dream is to harness the power of tourism to create a more equitable Jerusalem by giving a voice to communities excluded from the mainstream. She is a graduate of Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary and a proud alumni of the Yahel Social Change Fellowship. Her latest project is a story series about family owned restaurants in Jerusalem. On any given day, you can find her curled up with a novel in a Nachlaot coffeeshop. She can be reached at bs2829@columbia.edu.

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