Lisa Shatz, at The Blogs

Lisa Shatz

Sep 27, 2026, 5:25 AM

I welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu’s strong defense of Israel in his UN speech this past week. His insistence on Jewish belonging and Israel’s right to defend itself deserved to be heard, especially in an international atmosphere so hostile to Israel....

Sep 20, 2026, 10:29 AM

We Do Not Rely on Miracles, and the Seal of God Is Truth

A recent controversy over a newly hired eighth-grade history teacher in Newton, Massachusetts, has caused me to consider how Jews can defend themselves against falsehoods. Before beginning her job, the teacher had written an undergraduate thesis about pro-Palestinian campus...

Sep 14, 2026, 6:49 AM

Mark Ruffalo: How Dark Waters Became Murky

Years before Mark Ruffalo made Dark Waters, I was teaching the story behind the film to students in my Contemporary Science and Technology class at Suffolk University. My students read and analyzed the New York Times Magazine investigation of...

Sep 10, 2026, 4:51 AM

Throwing Stones from a Glass House: The West’s Double Standard on Israel

This week, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced that Britain would ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, joining France and Canada in taking action. The governments cited international law and settlement expansion, but also what they...

Sep 8, 2026, 8:53 AM

Jews vs. Jews: From Rome to the Jewish State

I recently heard historian Barry Strauss discuss his new book, Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire, on the TRIGGERnometry podcast. Intrigued, I bought the book and just finished reading it. Published in 2025,...

Aug 30, 2026, 6:40 AM

Consensus is Not Morality

Norway has been on my mind lately. Recently, someone I met who works for an Israeli company told me about an encounter involving a potential Norwegian customer. Before moving forward, the customer wanted a declaration that the company did not...

Aug 24, 2026, 5:37 AM

Israel Needs to Help Its Advocates

Over the past several years, I have participated in numerous discussions about Israel on Brookline community listservs. In the process, I have learned how to defend Israel—rather effectively, I think—against the accusation that it is committing genocide in Gaza....

Aug 6, 2026, 5:54 AM

בְּתוֹךְ עַמִּי אָנֹכִי יֹשָׁבֶת “I dwell among my own people”

Over the past three years, I have found myself increasingly puzzled by a phenomenon that I hadn't given much thought to. Some of the strongest public criticism of Israel and of Jewish organizations comes not only from Israel's opponents...

Aug 2, 2026, 4:53 AM

Which Truths Shape How Israel Is Viewed?

A few days ago, I was listening to the Commentary podcast when John Podhoretz quoted a remark Barack Obama made shortly after the October 7 massacre. I had almost forgotten the comment, but hearing it again brought back the...

Jul 19, 2026, 5:13 PM

When Extraordinary Accusations Become Ordinary

Last week, on the Brookline PAX listserv, a community forum that includes many Jewish residents, someone shared the results of an Associated Press–NORC poll. According to the survey, roughly one-third of Americans now believe that Israel has committed genocide...

About Me

Lisa Shatz is Professor Emerita of Electrical Engineering at Suffolk University in Boston. An alumna of a Bais Yaakov school, she has spent a lifetime engaged in Torah learning and Jewish communal life. She is also a Brookline Town Meeting Member.