Category: Science and Health

You know something is wrong with the messaging, if not soul, of the Democratic Party when lawmakers attending President Trump’s State of the Union used the occasion to display disinterest in ordinary Americans with compelling life stories. Why not stand and applaud a young boy who beat cancer and now has a Secret Service badge […]

As the historian Gil Troy has put it, everyone has their own personal “Herzl moment,” the incident, episode or insight during which they suddenly perceive how serious antisemitism is even in their immediate vicinity. My own came in 2015 when a Facebook post I’d written about Hamas during the earlier 2014 Hamas-Israel war—defending the Israeli […]

The Transformation of the Nature of Power In modern Iranian history—and perhaps even globally—few movements rival the scale and dedication of Iranian women’s struggle for freedom and gender equality. A century ago, women fought for the right to vote; today, they are rising to fundamentally reshape the world. Gender Equality: A Defining Challenge of Our […]

One of the side effects of spending a few decades in the advertising business, as I did, is that thoughts percolate in your mind whether you like it or not. For several years now, one pesky thought has been bothering me: Why is it that the more money and resources we put in our fight […]

Growing up, Rabbi Zach Golden didn’t want to be a rabbi at “a normal shul.”  It was more than just talk: he founded Der Nister, the first Yiddish synagogue in Downtown Los Angeles. Der Nister is Yiddish for The Hidden, and that’s an apt description – the shul is located on the 14th floor of […]

My friend Laura invited me for a girls’ night out with our mutual friend Esther. When she told me the destination, I hesitated. It was a place of dark temptation for me, a place I hadn’t dared visit for years.   “Come on,” Laura said, teasingly. “You know you want to.” “I’ll drive,” I said, […]

At the 97th Academy Awards, Jewish actors Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. It was only the second time in the Academy’s history that Jews took both awards; at the 59th Academy Awards in 1987, Paul Newman won for “The Color of Money” and Marlee Matlin won for […]

The 97th annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday night. A bit of mystery was added to all the pageantry. Long before statues were handed out, the anticipation was eclipsed by the glamorous parade of designer finery—not the tuxes, dresses and gowns, but one added accessory: a Red Hand pin worn specially for the red […]

Global Condemnation of the Iranian Regime In its latest stance, the G7 members have unequivocally condemned the Iranian regime’s destabilizing actions. These actions include accelerating uranium enrichment without a credible civilian justification, supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East and the Red Sea, expanding ballistic missiles and drones, suppressing dissidents beyond its borders, and violating […]

I recently visited the Theater J in Washington, D.C. to see a sublime piece of theater—Ari’el Stachel’s “Out of Character.” While I cannot recommend the show enough, what truly surprised me was the fact that Theater J is a world class, state-of-the art theatrical venue embedded in the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center (JCC). In fact, I […]