Sarah Shapiro, at The Blogs

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Jul 12, 2023, 9:59 AM

When grownups are helpless

One of the standard hallmarks of childhood is a sense of powerlessness, in relation both to one’s family and to the world at large. To be a small person surrounded by giants is an experience all humans share –...

May 3, 2023, 2:58 PM

All earth to love: My father slowed the nuclear arms race

(Courtesey)

The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty he negotiated still stands, but it has too much lethal wiggle room when it comes to protecting what really matters

Jan 30, 2023, 5:18 PM

Conversing with Arab Cab Drivers

The saying goes that if you want to get the news, ask a cab driver. Here in Jerusalem, whenever I get into a taxi and the driver is an Arab, I usually see if it's possible to start a conversation....

Oct 18, 2022, 1:14 AM

A watch amidst the galaxies

For quite some time, I’d been on the lookout for a new watch, and while out shopping on Pico with the children during summer vacation, I spotted quite a nice one. It wasn’t what I’d had in mind, exactly. The...

Oct 15, 2021, 4:58 PM

What the cow does

In an old neighborhood of Jerusalem, I stood with my daughter strapped to me in a Snugly baby-carrier, waiting to speak with a certain renowned rabbi. One of his assistants hurried out of the rabbi’s house and stopped for...

Sep 20, 2021, 1:21 PM

Do Angels Need to Dance?

One evening during Sukkot, at the Simchat Beit HaSho'evah celebration held annually at Neve Yerushalaim, a Jerusalem women's seminary, my daughters and I engaged in four or five hours of non-stop dancing. The boomingly loud music, provided as it is...

Dec 7, 2020, 5:47 PM

"If Christians knew the effect of church bells on the Jewish soul, they would ring them all day long." Rav Yisrael Salanter , 19th century. December was the beautiful season. Twinkling lights and golden bells, red and green and mistletoe. Storefronts...

Mar 2, 2020, 7:12 AM

To Be or Not to Be

It has always struck me as bizarre, mysterious, and absurd that Israel's essential right to exist is ever a question in the eyes of the world. That which for other nations is normally a given, is for us something...

Feb 7, 2020, 4:15 AM

Senator Mitt Romney, as an Orthodox Jew I thank you

Should we be lending unqualified support to a president whose manner of speech violates an essential pillar of Judaism?

Jan 19, 2018, 2:44 PM

Koko Tanimoto and the tear of the pilot

Illustrative: A Japanese casualty of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb. Her skin was burned in the same pattern as the kimono she was wearing at the time of the blast. (Wikimedia Commons)

How a survivor of the atom bomb stopped hating the pilot who flew the plane

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About Me

Sarah Shapiro's newest book is "An Audience of One, and Other Stories" [Mosaica/Feldheim]

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