Author: David Rutman

“Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund” by Molly Crabapple. Random House, NY (2026) Rummaging through her great-grandfather’s obscure past, Molly Crabapple transports herself back to the tumultuous world of Eastern European Jewry: a world of national awakenings, pogroms, emerging modernity, democratic ferment and revolutionary struggle. It was a […]

“Many people today believe,” Guy Rogers observes in his “For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66–74 CE,” “that the fate of humanity itself will be decided at the site of the destroyed Temple. Visitors to the Western Wall today are immediately aware that they are visiting not just another […]

Israel Bonds recently hosted two Young Investors events in Los Angeles. According to Israel Bonds leadership, “these gatherings reflected a new generation of Jewish professionals in Los Angeles supporting Israel” and were part of the organization’s effort to foster the next generation’s advocacy for Israel. On June 9, Israel Bonds Prime Minister’s Club and Platinum Society […]

Trendsetting Rabbi Laura Geller – the first rabbi to give birth and the first to lead a major metropolitan synagogue – retired from Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills a decade ago, but she has been busy ever since, teaching, speaking and writing books. Raised in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Mass., she grew up in […]

Hollywood loves makeovers. New hair. New teeth. New accent. Sometimes even a new birthday. And if all else fails — change your name. When Mili Avital arrived in America in the early 1990s, she received the standard Hollywood welcome package. “Your name is too foreign.” “Your accent is too Israeli.” “Maybe audiences would connect better […]

JD Vance’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” was disturbing but not surprising. To be clear, Vance said what the thought he needed to make sure he gets President Donald Trump’s endorsement for the 2028 presidential election. Trump has a habit of encouraging employees to have competing ideas and see who the public likes better. […]

On Jul. 8, 2026 former White House chief of staff, once Chicago Mayor, and possible Democratic presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel gave a speech at Tel Aviv University about U.S.-Israel relations. He did not hold back. Emanuel begins by stating that he understands why Israelis might dismiss criticism from outside. Palestinian leaders, after all, have refused offer after […]

On May 10, 1951, more than 20,000 people packed New York’s Madison Square Garden to hear Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, make an extraordinary appeal. The young State of Israel was less than three years old, struggling to absorb hundreds of thousands of immigrants while building its economy from the ground up. Ben-Gurion was […]

To stop or not to stop at a Kristallnacht monument? That is the question (at least for all German tour guides giving city walking tours to non-Jewish foreign exchange students). I was about to start a “study abroad” semester at the Technical University of Dortmund. After arriving, I learned that a city walking tour was […]

Habits die hard. In the fight against antisemitism, we’ve always assumed that it’s bad enough to label something or someone “antisemitic.” After all, just as racism is taboo, so is antisemitism. The problem is that an emotion is not an action. Hating Jews is an emotion. And just like any emotion or any label, it […]