Author: Neta-Lee Zellweger

(JTA) — My sister and I grew up in a small settlement surrounded by Arab villages in the disputed West Bank. We have ended up, however, in very different places. I am currently pursuing a PhD in social psychology, studying the science of moral understanding and how it can be leveraged to bridge divides. My sister […]

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Everyone has at least a few creation stories: how they were born, how they came to the career they chose, how they met their loved one. This week Jews around the world will return to our creation story, the one found in the first chapters of the Torah […]

(JTA) — We are in an era of multiple interlocking crises. From record-breaking heat waves to wildfires to water shortages, from rising authoritarianism to a pandemic rampaging across the world, it is clear that, to survive, human beings will need to make urgent, major changes to how we live. Bold policy proposals already exist to […]

(JTA) — Between 2008 and 2011, one of the ways I survived in yeshiva was “The Wire,” HBO’s groundbreaking police drama. Tosafot and Rambam throughout the day, Brother Mouzone, Avon Barksdale and McNulty late at night. Our beit midrash had a main lower part and an upper part up some steps. These were the low […]

This article originally appeared on Kveller.  One of the distinctively Jewish benefits of the pandemic is that we can attend services virtually anywhere in the world. This time last year, probably like many of you, my family chose to spend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on Zoom with our home congregation in the Berkshires of […]

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Shortly before he died, my dad gave me a trove of family documents, some dating to the 19th century. For the first time I had confirmation of what our family name was before a great-uncle changed it to Carroll when he and his brothers immigrated to America. My […]

This article originally appeared on Kveller.  My father, Michael Horen, was an artist by training and a graphic designer by profession. But the word I most often use to describe him is “humanitarian.” That’s not because he ever did any international aid work, but because throughout his life, he really sought to make connections with […]

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — One of the most controversial — and tone-deaf — front-page headlines to appear in The New York Jewish Week during the 26 years I served as editor (1993-2019) was published the morning after 9/11 — 20 years ago. Across the top of the page, in moon landing-size bold […]

(JTA) — Every year during the High Holidays, Jews recite a litany of ways we have fallen short in a confessional prayer. Known as a viddui, the prayer is a centerpiece of our Yom Kippur liturgy. This year, we again will reflect on our shortcomings. But one takeaway from the past year is that even […]

(JTA) — Two nights after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, we were instructed to evacuate our building. There was talk of a potential attack on the nearby Empire State Building. My roommates and I covered our mouths and noses with towels to protect against the still fetid air and walked east from our midtown […]