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Silas Anastacio

Oct 23, 2026, 8:00 PM

Exclusive: Ariel Horovitz on Archaeology, Identity, and Israel’s Jewish Roots

Ariel Horovitz is an Israeli historian and sociologist whose career blends rigorous academic training with cultural education. He holds degrees in Sociology and Jewish History, with a specialization in the History of Israel, and a master’s in Leadership and...

Oct 15, 2026, 10:56 PM

The Importance of Judaism, Music and History in My Life

The author at Filson Historical Society. Photo courtesy of the author.

Judaism, music and history have been three important components of my life since childhood. They reflect my academic training, current and past jobs and the passions that define me. Judaism is very much a part of my soul, my n’shamah....

Walter Estever Gonzalez

Oct 15, 2026, 7:02 AM

When the Sky Stayed Whole

Illustration generated with AI, inspired by the Independence Day air show in San Salvador, September 15, 2006.

I grew up in a place where the sky could not be trusted. As a child in El Salvador during the war, I learned to read the air before I learned to read books. Silence was not peace; it was...

Oct 15, 2026, 2:34 AM

Five Years of Blogging: Parashat Noah, From the Flood to the Work of Repair

This is my fifth-year writing about parashat Noah. I began blogging in 2022, in the midst of COVID, when writing became a form of escape. But with parashat Noah, something changed: I began writing every week, without fail. Each...

Oct 14, 2026, 8:43 PM

When Joy Gets In: From Fenway to Yom Kippur – Yom Kippur Kol Nidrei 5787

“You can go through. But you, please step over here.” “This isn’t good.” The woman at the metal detector had stopped Ben, Talya’s brand-new husband. It had been only 24 hours since I even had a son-in-law, and now I was already...

Walter Estever Gonzalez

Oct 1, 2026, 6:10 AM

The Shooting Lasted Ten Minutes

W. E. Gonzalez with his nieces Luna and Estrella at the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2012, during the years when distance running was a regular part of his life.

The shooting lasted about ten minutes. It took me seven to finish breakfast. My wife, my mother-in-law, and my father-in-law were sheltering in the safest part of the house while gunfire echoed outside. I had found the spot for them...

Sep 23, 2026, 6:26 PM

The Happy Holiday: Succot Memories and Guests

The Holiday of Joy On Sukkot, we are commanded to be happy!! You shall rejoice in your festival, וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ, with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your...

Sep 22, 2026, 1:40 AM

A Jewish Life Saved in 1941, Today We Remember

“A man named Filip came to my grandfather…he’d used the words ‘in good faith’ or ‘në besë (besa),’ which is important to us Albanians,” says 58-year-old Naim Behluli. We’re sitting in one of Prishtinë’s bustling cafes, and although Kosovo is...

Joel M. Greenberg

Sep 17, 2026, 8:30 PM

The Illusion of Certainty

This week, as Yom Kippur approaches, I keep thinking about one line I read in a Torah Anytime Rosh Hashanah booklet, in an article by Rabbi Bentzion Shafier. He suggested looking through the obituary section of a newspaper. Young...

Walter Estever Gonzalez

Sep 17, 2026, 6:51 AM

Seven Passports for a Journey That Never Happened

Walter Estever Gonzalez at approximately four or five years old in El Salvador. This surviving copy comes from a photograph taken for a passport intended for a family journey to Mexico that never took place. (Courtesy of the author)

There is a photograph of me from when I was four or five years old. I am wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt and looking directly at the camera with the seriousness children sometimes have when adults tell them not...

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