Women learn their Jewish heritage at Shirat Hayam’s pop-up Mishnah gathering
SALEM – Faith Kramer opened the door – the front of which was adorned in big, colorful letters spelling her name – clad from head to toe in bright turquoise, white hair curling at her ears, and said, enthusiastically, “Welcome to my house!” The greeting was clearly a courtesy because few, if any, introductions were […]
Novoselsky makes it his mission to find yahrzeit plaques’ families from former Revere shul
REVERE – Ira Novoselsky is on a mission. Two hundred yahrzeit plaques, originally from the former Congregation Tifereth Israel in Revere, have been stored in the Veterans’ Home in Chelsea’s Jewish Chapel for nearly five years. Now, the veterans’ home is undergoing renovations, and the plaques need a place to go, ideally – in Novoselsky’s […]
The Israel we know has fallen
In what appears to be a tragic convergence, in the week of Tisha B’Av, when we mark the destruction of the Temple, attributed by our sages to bitter hatred among Jews, the Knesset has passed the first piece of judicial reform that has torn Israeli society asunder. When the President of Israel speaks publicly about […]
Brandeis president apologizes after national ad campaign angers the school’s Orthodox community
The president of Brandeis University has apologized for a recent ad in The New York Times Magazine, that took aim at the school’s connection to Orthodox Judaism. The university came under fire for declaring in the title of the June 25 ad that Brandeis was “anything but Orthodox.” The ad angered observant students and Brandeis […]
Rabbi David Meyer leaves a lasting legacy at Temple Emanu-El
MARBLEHEAD – There is no exact formula for becoming the ideal rabbi for a congregation, but over the last 31 years, Rabbi David Meyer seems to have come up with one that has allowed congregants to grow spiritually while connecting to a broad and strong Jewish community. The soft-spoken Meyer, who grew up in Kansas […]
A summer of anxiety for American Jews: A time to worry about antisemitism at home, and developments in the Middle East
American Jews this summer have split vision. One eye is on the trial of the gunman who killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The other eye is on the West Bank, where hostilities are reaching a boiling point. It is that split vision – worries about antisemitism at home, concern […]
A Holocaust story unknown to most: The journey from a Greek island to Auschwitz
RHODES, Greece – Almost every visitor to this Dodecanese island arrives with a guidebook in hand. I recommend instead a book called “One Hundred Saturdays.” It is Michael Frank’s story of the hundred Saturdays he spent taking the testimony of Stella Levi, a woman unknown to most Jews but whose story begs to be known. […]
With Joe Biden, Jewish Americans have a strong ally in the White House
For the past 66 years, the federal government has produced bound editions bearing the title “Public Papers of the Presidents.” Hardly anyone ever opens these books; I have spent a lifetime covering and studying presidents, and even I seldom pierce them. But there is reason to hope that, sometime in the future, someone might open […]
Arthur J. Epstein, business executive and philanthropist, dies
Arthur Joseph Epstein, who rose from modest roots in Malden to become a business executive and philanthropist, died on Sunday, March 21, 2023. He was 86. While in high school, Arthur worked in his father’s Wakefield factory, Mystic Enterprises. After his father passed when Arthur was 16, he took on more responsibilities at Mystic. Arthur […]
Editorial: Honoring our community leaders, and supporting the Jewish Journal
The North Shore, and Greater Boston, are blessed with dedicated, compassionate community Jewish leaders. While they are volunteers, many see their work as a 24-hour job. And over the last three years during the pandemic, the pressures of the job have been intense. As people moved online and away from in-person gatherings, the work continued […]