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July 20, 2022 Paul Anka rejuvenates Jerusalem By Barbara Sofer ‘I’m so young and you’re so old, this, my darling, I’ve been told.” So begins Paul Anka’s most popular song “Diana” with which he opens his concerts, appearing suddenly in the audience, making his way to the stage – no easy task in Jerusalem’s Sultan’s […]

July 15, 2022 When sixth graders celebrate heroines – opinion By Barbara Sofer For two years we made do with celebration by Zoom. We heard bar mitzvah Torah readings and watched babies enter the Covenant of Abraham, danced at weddings and cried at funerals through our computers. We lifted glasses and shouted “L’chayim!” to the

July 1, 2022 How a woman with Down syndrome swims across the Kinneret – opinion By Barbara Sofer Imagine swimming the Kinneret holding hands. That’s how Ayelet Wilk has done it for the last nine years. Meet Ayelet. She’s a petite brunette, with cinnamon hair and tawny eyes. She’s quick to share a hug with

June 17, 2022 The clash of Zionism and the American Dream – opinion By Barbara Sofer Dear Lior, I’ve been thinking a lot about your heartfelt op-ed “I left Israel to give my kids the American Dream. Is this It?” which appeared first on the online news site Kveller and has been widely reprinted. Your

June 3, 2022 Shavuot: A modern Jerusalem story of kindness – opinion By Barbara Sofer In the Scroll of Ruth, read and discussed on Shavuot, the heroine happens to glean in the field of relative-by-marriage Boaz, who happens to visit the field on her first day. The question arises, of course, as to the role

May 20, 2022 COVID-19 postponed my college reunion – opinion By Barbara Sofer I was in such a hurry to make aliyah long ago that I missed my graduation from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. But now I have a second chance, 50 years later. Actually 51. Postponed because of COVID-19. In 1971, after

May 6, 2022 Holocaust survivor Rena Quint answers remaining questions – opinion By Barbara Sofer Rena Quint is speaking in person to three groups and then by Zoom to people in the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, India and Hong Kong. One more group, Jerusalem adults, want her to come to a meeting at night, but she’s too

April 29, 2022 75 reasons I love Israel (in no particular order) – opinion By Barbara Sofer Back for the 18th year in a row, new reasons I love Israel. Remember that when we were crossing the sea after the Exodus, some looked down and only saw the mud. They missed the miracle. 1. Israel’s

April 15, 2022 Passover massacre: 20 years later, Israel’s terror response has changed By Barbara Sofer I was with my family in Tiberias that night, the eve of Passover 2002. I noticed that extra guards were reinforcing the hotel entrance. That’s before I heard there had been an attack in a hotel in Netanya. Even

April 8, 2022 Organ donation in Israel: Sharing the good – opinion By Barbara Sofer Naama Ullman Alfasy has seven children and one kidney. She recently gave the other kidney away to a stranger. Naama is a young friend, 47, the youngest daughter of a close friend closer to my age. I was with them