November 15, 2024 A new Israeli clinical trial is testing a tuberculosis vaccine to prevent Alzheimer’s – opinion By Barbara Sofer “What’s new?” I ask neurologist Tamir Ben-Hur as we happen to meet in the employees’ cafeteria at Hadassah-University Medical Center, in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem. My tray is piled high with spicy fish and abundant Mediterranean
November 1, 2024 Simchat Torah in times of tragedy: Balancing joy and mourning – opinion By Barbara Sofer On the night after my first Simchat Torah in Israel, rain began to fall. My roommate and I, students, heard that there was an Israeli custom of dancing in the street after the Simchat Torah holiday was over. Hakafot
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October 2, 2024 Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and personal accounting – opinion By Barbara Sofer My friend Gila Halelli Weiss is a successful accountant. A CPA. She used to work for hi-tech companies, but five years ago she went out on her own. Every year, her client base grows. Her birthday coincides with the approach
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September 20, 2024 Fifty years without my father – opinion By Barbara Sofer This one is personal. My father, Abraham ben Odes and Fischel, died 50 years ago this week. To me it feels impossible that he’s been gone so long and yet is such a strong presence in my mind and heart. Because my
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September 6, 2024 Who will lead us? Finding models of leadership for Israel in troubling times – opinion By Barbara Sofer Kibbutz Magen should have been celebrating its 75th anniversary this month. Magen was established in August 1949 on the site of the biblical Bethul (Joshua 19:4). It was a battlefield in the War of
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August 8, 2024 He fought for the chance to fight: A combat medic’s story By Barbara Sofer Shlomo Demma could have sat out this war, but he didn’t want to. A combat medic in the paratroopers, he was injured in military service in 2014 and hadn’t been called up to reserve duty since then. His
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August 2, 2024 Why Jerusalem has the best view in the world – opinion By Barbara Sofer We’re going out to dinner, and we have seats with the best view in the world. I’m a grandmother, so I’ve seen a few spectacular views in my life: from the Eiffel Tower and Mount Fuji, from the
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July 12, 2024 Mental resilience: IDF Lt.-Col. shares how to prepare for the worst By Barbara Sofer How to prepare for the worst is a theme of Jonathan Bahat’s life. You might not guess this by reviewing his military CV, which includes events for which preparation seems impossible. The 48-year-old lieutenant colonel in the reserves
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June 28, 2024 Bar Mitzvah joy to battlefield bravery: The resilience of wounded IDF soldiers By Barbara Sofer A perfect Jerusalem evening. The mountain breeze at 800 meters above sea level has overcome the desert heat. Just right for a modest outdoor bar mitzvah party. Despite the war, the chronic worries, and the protracted heartache,
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June 14, 2024 How an award ceremony reunited descendants of two saviors of Denmark’s Jews – opinion By Barbara Sofer King Frederik X of Denmark agreed to be blessed. With a black kippah on his head, neuroscientist Haim Sompolinsky of Jerusalem recited the blessing Jews say when we meet a king – first in English,
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