Author: Neta-Lee Zellweger

This piece was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for its newsletters here. (Chalkbeat via JTA) — “Hey, I did have one question …” That was the tentative opening to an email I recently received from a high school teacher. The Ninth Candle, the Holocaust education organization I […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When I talk with Palestinian friends, I argue against BDS. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, I explain, has done little economic damage to Israel. It has only strengthened the right wing here while rendering Palestinians under occupation — along with the occupation itself — conveniently invisible to most Israelis. For similar reasons, I also argue […]

(JTA) — Numerous reviews of the Netflix reality series “My Unorthodox Life” have been written by Orthodox Jews, who complain that it presents a negative and one-sided view of Orthodoxy. I write from the perspective of an ex-Orthodox Jew, and while my reasons may differ from those of Orthodox people, I agree that this show […]

(JTA) — When Nazi tanks surrounded Warsaw, my father related in a rare moment of frustration, the Jews were in shul arguing over who should get “shishi” (the honor of being called up third to the Torah). It was a story I thought about often on Sunday, on Tisha b’Av. The day marks the destruction of […]

This article originally appeared on Kveller. Every houseplant I’ve ever been responsible for could attest, from beyond the grave, that I don’t exactly have a green thumb. So it was interesting to move out to Seattle over a decade ago and be thrown into the Pacific Northwest gardening scene. People out here take their horticulture, […]

(JTA) — The Arizona Diamondbacks made baseball history Monday when they made Jacob Steinmetz, a 17-year-old right-handed pitcher from Woodmere, New York, their third round pick in the Major League Baseball draft. Steinmetz, who lists at 6-feet-5 and 220 pounds, is the first Orthodox Jewish player to be selected in baseball’s annual talent hunt, which […]

(JTA) — Last month, Pixar released “Luca,” the animated tale of a sea monster who becomes a boy on dry land. The protagonist must come to terms with the part of himself that makes him different, even reviled. And of course, by the end, Luca learns to love himself, bringing most of the townspeople along with him. […]

(JTA) — Fasting and praying for 25  hours — many of them sweltering — isn’t anyone’s idea of summer vacation. But that’s not the only reason Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, which begins Saturday night at sundown) is among the least observed days on the Jewish calendar, despite its […]

This article originally appeared on Kveller. With 46% of Americans fully vaccinated, trials for children under 12 in progress and a population eager to put the last year and a half in the rearview mirror, it’s no surprise that the cultural timeline for “returning to normal” — if “normal“ even exists anymore — has accelerated. […]

(JTA) — Anyone teaching the past by skipping over the unpleasant parts isn’t teaching history. They are engaged in propaganda. Jewish tradition understands this: Refusing to sugarcoat their own people’s culpability, the Sages themselves teach that the destruction of the Temple by the Romans is a consequence of baseless hatred — among Jews. Yet in […]