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December 15, 2023 University of Pennsylvania and antisemitism: An open letter to Liz Magill – opinion By Barbara Sofer I loved attending the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in 1971. The university offered everything I’d dreamed of when I was attending a rural public school in Connecticut: intellectual, philosophical, and moral challenges […]

December 1, 2023 Israel-Hamas war: Explaining the Gaza war in New England terms – opinion By Barbara Sofer Dearest Connecticut cousin, Thank you for your love and concern, and your desire to explain the conflict. I know you’re surrounded by neighbors and friends who are primed to think the worst of Israel, even now after

November 17, 2023 ‘New York Times’ writer Nicholas Kristoff lost sight of facts, nuance – opinion By Barbara Sofer The most disappointing part of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof’s recent op-ed in The New York Times, “Losing sight of a shared humanity,” is its dateline. Jerusalem. Reporting from Jerusalem, how simple it is to check the

November 3, 2023 Hamas tried to abduct elderly couple to Gaza. This is how they escaped – opinion By Barbara Sofer Moshe Rozen, 72, is usually on the phone when I visit him at Hadassah-University Medical Center, Mount Scopus. A handsome man with a salt and pepper beard, today he’s speaking to a radio host

October 20, 2023 How an elderly veteran helped fight invading Hamas terrorists – opinion By Barbara Sofer My name is Mina Cohen. My parents made aliyah from Iran. I was born in Tel Aviv. When I was a soldier in the tank corps, I met a slightly older man named Baruch – very handsome, with blond hair

October 13, 2023 Letter from Jerusalem – opinion By Barbara Sofer I look back at the articles I wrote during the Yom Kippur War and am glad I have them. The details, the feelings, what I did when. Write down your feelings, where you are every day and what is happening to you and your loved ones,

September 22, 2023 Mourning the loss of a murdered lone soldier – opinion By Barbara Sofer A thousand Israelis stand silent at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in north Tel Aviv. The only sound is the synchronized marching of black boots on the cemetery turf. A column of soldiers in green uniforms and turquoise berets lifts

September 8, 2023 Donating money and elevating the soul of a lost loved one – opinion By Barbara Sofer Jerusalem morning. Late summer. 4 a.m. Old Katamon neighborhood. The cool light wind of Jerusalem summer. Silence. Not even a crier announcing penitent prayers or the high-pitched demand of a newborn coming from an open window. My husband

August 25, 2023 Ostia: Home to one of the greatest centers of post-Temple Jewry – opinion By Barbara Sofer A quiz from a recent edition of the Lubavitch movement’s premier publication Lubavitch International: After the destruction of the Second Temple, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai famously established the new Jewish center in the Yeshiva (Academy) of Yavne. At

August 11, 2023 ‘Oppenheimer’: How Jewish refugees beat the Nazis to the atomic bomb – opinion By Barbara Sofer Many Jewish scientists who fled Nazi Germany would work on the Manhattan Project. They knew how important it was to beat Hitler to getting nuclear bombs first. An intelligent and sensitive friend asked me recently if