A giant among us: Bernie Hyatt, former Jewish Advocate owner, dies at 99
Bernie Hyatt always seemed to be around a story, or telling one. A Harvard-educated attorney and the son of a rabbi, Hyatt rejected law and instead combined two of his strongest passions: Judaism and journalism. For more than half a century, he embodied Jewish journalism in Boston. A dapper dresser and raconteur, he wrote over […]
Editorial: Happy Passover
Passover began this week and runs until April 13. According to a Pew Foundation study, 70 percent of American Jews participate in a Seder, making it the most popular holiday Jews observe. It is a social holiday that brings families, friends and strangers to the table to partake in a night of storytelling and food. […]
Honorable Menschion: Jerry Somers
Jerry Somers spent his formative years in Brookline involved in a variety of Jewish organizations that later led to his passion for social justice. His law career at Goodwin Procter was instrumental for the many leadership roles he later assumed at Temple Emanu-El, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), the Jim Joseph Foundation and […]
Editorial: On Passover, Israelis help define the meaning of freedom
On Saturday evening after Shabbat, Israelis taught the world a lesson about democracy. Hundreds of thousands could not sit still after they learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant had warned that Netanyahu’s plan to reform the country’s judiciary system was becoming a threat to Israel’s security. Pilots, key […]
American Jews watch warily as Israeli democracy waivers
It is tempting to say that this moment – angry demonstrations in Israeli streets, bitter debates about democratic values, persistent conflict with Palestinians – is one of those times when American Jews’ sentiments toward Israel are being tested again. But in truth, there has never before been a moment like this. A time when an […]
Editorial: Israel is on the cusp of civil war
“THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the ingathering of the exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social […]
Jews everywhere brace for day of reckoning as Tree of Life trial to begin in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH – Once again, the reach of what happens here isn’t going to be limited to the Pittsburgh city limits. As the trial of the shooter who gunned down 11 Jews at prayer in the Tree of Life is only two months away, the city’s Jewish community is bracing for a new onset of trauma […]
Preserving the legacy of the 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life
A photograph of three generations of Tree of Life congregation sisterhood members. A Bar Mitzvah boy’s bencher prayer book with the date of the Tree of Life massacre embedded in the iconic Pittsburgh Steelers logo. The program from the interfaith prayer service at Duquesne University, a Catholic institution across town founded by the Congregation of the […]
MLK, Heschel, social activism and ‘progressive piety’
The commemoration of Martin Luther King’s life and legacy – and of the alliances he forged – need not to have been confined to Monday’s holiday, and an unpublished set of remarks about the civil rights leader underlines not only his great impact but also the role that one of his greatest allies played in […]
Swastika painted near Swampscott school
SWAMPSCOTT – For the second time since November, Swampscott police are investigating an incident of hate involving a swastika. Last Friday, police reported that a swastika had been painted on the sidewalk in the area of Redington Street and Forest Avenue – which is close to the Hadley Elementary School. “The swastika was spray painted […]