Yesterday, we celebrated the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It gave me reason to consider that like many, if not most countries, the US was conceived in war. That has been the human condition throughout most of history - as Douglas Murray reminds us in his incredible a…
You’ve probably seen it in a photo or been there. The Hotel de Ville in Paris. Right next to the Seine River on the right bank. You know the famous post-war photo ‘Le baiser de l'Hôtel de Ville’ by Robert Doisneau? It was up on my wall when I was in university, as it was for many Gen …
I’ve got a number of responsibilities at the Federation. Among them is reaching out to members of other vulnerable and minority communities to enhance relationships between us. In the past, I’ve spoken out to console members of the African American community after the terrible mass shoot…
Like many if not all of you, I was overcome with joy when I heard last weekend of the rescue of four Israeli hostages from captivity by Hamas and its ‘civilian’ accomplices in the Nuseirat district of Gaza. Though several dozen Israelis remain in the hands of their brutal captors, this w…
Last year at about this time, I wrote about how, if the love and respect many of us have that informs our support of our friends in the LGBTQ+ community didn’t immediately resonate, that support could also be seen through another prism, of Jewish values espoused by Rabbi Akiva explaining t…
