Zack Babins

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Jun 20, 2016, 4:44 PM

Coming Home: Beginning My Own Birthright

It’s been nearly 10 years to the day since I first landed in Israel. Since the first time I took off my shoes, and placed my feet on sacred ground. Since I realized that no matter how long I...

May 6, 2016, 12:20 AM

When The Walls Screamed at Me

It was a rainy day in Amsterdam when it really hit me. I was 17 years old, a year older than she was when she died. Now, 65 years later, I shuffled through the attic she called home: cramped,...

Apr 18, 2016, 4:06 AM

The strangest seder I’ve ever seen

A true, personal sense of the escape from Egypt sprang from a meal of 4 cups of wine, matzah ball soup, and pork ribs

Apr 12, 2016, 6:07 AM

Who do you serve? Guilt, redemption and vodka

It was like an episode of Star Trek. I even had a beard. Okay, half of a beard. Growing facial hair isn’t really my forte. All the same, I felt like the morning mirror was showing me a different...

Apr 3, 2016, 12:14 AM

Batmesch & Supermensch: Nice Jewish Boys in Capes

Warning: if you have not seen this movie, there will be spoilers ahead, so beware. I recently saw Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Twice. I’m a nerd, and I’m proud of that. Now, this is not a review, I...

Mar 8, 2016, 7:49 AM

Micro-agressions and matzo balls

He has a job at a place committed to progressive ideals of justice -- so why did his colleague make that joke?

Mar 1, 2016, 3:51 PM

Wisdom and a Bowl of Green Grapes

I called her one Tuesday afternoon in grade 12. “Hey Bubbie, I’m working Thursday night at Clatworthy, right near you. Should I come for dinner beforehand?” I didn’t mark that day down in the calendar. Maybe I should have. What business does...

Feb 25, 2016, 5:19 AM

How I met my rabbi

First, I came as a rebel. I’ll be honest: I was a 16-year-old Jewish Atheist Agnostic. I considered myself an iconoclast, smarter than everyone. How could others be so blind that they would give up bacon? Or napping in...

Feb 23, 2016, 5:39 AM

Tallis, tefillin, and tacos: Tradition in the Netflix-age

Trying to figure out his inexplicable urge to wake up, wrap his arm in leather and face east

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About Me

Zack Babins is a Parliamentary Intern in the House of Commons in Ottawa. He graduated from the University of Guelph, where he was a leader in campus Jewish organizations Hillel and Alpha Epsilon Pi. All views are, of course, his own. He doesn't expect many will share them.