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Philip Rosenberg

Jan 17, 2025, 1:38 PM

The Beatles, Berlioz and a story of the Jewish world

Busking, as it were, in Jerusalem. (courtesy)

When you're a gentle musical virtuoso, your viola E-string can snap mid-performance and you'll figure out how to play on (at least, that's what my grandfather did)

Jan 16, 2025, 7:45 AM

Bearing Witness: Inside the Nova Music Festival Exhibition

I was nervous to go to the Nova Exhibition—scared to experience the inevitable pain and heartbreak. I also knew it was something I had to do. My husband and I were invited to the exhibit on a night that garnered...

Jan 13, 2025, 8:34 AM

The Petty Assault on Israeli culture

Top chef in famous Jerusalem restaurant, Machneyuda (touristisrael.com)

Why do cultural attacks on Israel cut deeper than political criticism? A few months ago, Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Belgian-Lebanese political activist, opinion maker and a controversial figure known for his polarizing views, posted on Facebook about Modern Hebrew. In...

Jan 8, 2025, 12:39 AM

Pete the Magic Dragon

For 10 years, I was involved with a project in my community called "Art of Peace." It was a week-long series of events to promote messages of peace. One of our communal offerings was a yearly "Peace Concert," and...

Jan 5, 2025, 3:49 PM

Imagine there’s no countries. Imagine Woodstock for Peace

This is your job, they told me. You will have two six-hour shifts and will be walking around for most of it, keeping alert at all times. Two six-hour shifts? For the weeks beforehand, I was anxious yet excited. I...

Shira Hecht-Koller

Dec 25, 2024, 9:14 PM

Holding the Holy and the Broken

I’m sitting in a very quiet and calm airport on my way back from the funeral of the brother of a dear and cherished friend (and his extended beloved family) and reflecting on the whirlwind of my last thirty...

Michael Feldstein

Dec 24, 2024, 6:03 PM

Revisiting My Vinyls

Deep in the bowels of the unfinished area of our basement is a group of six huge plastic containers. They contain the 500-plus record albums that I purchased from 1970-1984, while I was in my formative teenage and young...

Sherwin Pomerantz

Dec 23, 2024, 2:42 PM

How Hanukkah and Christmas Are Linked

Friends, the rare confluence of Christmas and the first candle of Hanukkah falling on the same day, as it does this year, should give all of us pause regarding the linkage of the two holidays with their shared historical...

Dec 7, 2024, 3:44 PM

“Thank you for this holy work,” my Rabbi said, grinning his friendly grin from behind thick glasses. I’d never thought of cataloguing books in the synagogue library as “holy” work. I looked down at my shoes. “You’re welcome,” I stammered,...

Nov 25, 2024, 4:58 PM

A Nation of Superheroes (Giborei Al)

Since the outbreak of War on October 7, many local artists have composed songs commemorating the fallen, or singing about courage and optimism. As the first anniversary of October 7 has come and gone, and the war drags on,...

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