Lori Silberman Brauner

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May 14, 2025, 8:13 AM

Celebrating a hometown hero’s return — and waiting for the 58 left behind

Along with hundreds of people from all segments of the Bergen County, New Jersey, Jewish community, I was privileged to to take part in the watch party yesterday for newly freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander in his hometown of...

Dec 12, 2023, 6:55 AM

Why I’m keeping my son in Israel as a war rages on

Volunteering to pick fruit at Kibbutz Gvulot.

He is receiving an education and absorbing values far more important than anything he could learn here in New Jersey

Dec 14, 2022, 5:29 AM

What in heaven’s name brought me to Casablanca?

The interior of the Rabbi Amram Ben Diwan synagogue.

The Jewish population is a tiny fraction of what it was in the 1950s, but the vibrancy of the involved community defies those numbers

Nov 9, 2016, 9:21 PM

We have to stay and fight for our country

The e-mails between my family members started circulating this morning, the day after what at least some of us considered a devastating political defeat. "Lori wants to leave the country," wrote one family member, based on comments I apparently muttered...

Jul 6, 2016, 6:44 AM

Drawing our own red (and green) lines in Israel

Relaxing at our town's swim club recently, I found myself catching up with a friend whose husband and two sons had gone by themselves to Israel. Normally a laid-back person, she surprised me by stating her conditions for letting the...

Oct 29, 2015, 3:22 PM

Baking challah, remembering a Shabbat queen

The first time I met Henny Machlis, z"l, I was a 20-year-old student spending a semester at Tel Aviv University in 1990. Despite being based in Tel Aviv, I was eager to explore Jerusalem, the place I perceived as the...

Jun 25, 2015, 10:09 AM

Israel: an emotional roller coaster ride

I had only been in Israel a few hours when I received my first berating, from the driver of a Nesher sherut (shared taxi). I was about to help fill up a van full of passengers heading to Jerusalem, when I...

Feb 17, 2015, 2:18 AM

TOI Gala: Beyond the glitz and gift bags

I was privileged last night to both attend and serve as a volunteer for the first annual Times of Israel gala. Held at the ritzy Waldorf-Astoria New York hotel on an evening when, after taking into the account the wind chill...

Jul 29, 2014, 3:57 PM

New York ♥ Israel

New York really loves Israel. As one of at least 10,000 people who packed an entire Manhattan city block between 1st and 2nd avenues yesterday, I can attest to that love. The rally, organized by UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community...

Jul 4, 2014, 5:59 PM

Three fewer Shabbat candles

This Shabbat, my living room mantelpiece will not be as illuminated as it was the last two Friday nights. Three fewer candles will be lit tonight. Living in the Diaspora, I had felt completely helpless upon hearing about the kidnapping of...

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About Me

Lori Silberman Brauner is a writer and editor who lives with her family in Teaneck, New Jersey. A lover of travel and exploring Jewish diaspora communities, she is hoping to turn her experiences into a book in the not-so-distant future.