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July 18, 2025 Eytan Gittler: The lone soldier saving Israeli civilians under Iran missile fire By Barbara Sofer “My American English came in handy,” says Eytan Gittler, 29, a young man who grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.  He’s at our shared workplace, Hadassah’s offices in the Jerusalem Ein Kerem hospital, where he is […]

July 4, 2025 Generations of resilience: A family’s Shabbat after Operation Rising Lion – opinion By Barbara Sofer The Shabbat after Operation Rising – roaring – Lion, we are celebrating a family gathering at our home in Jerusalem. Our teenage grandchildren from around the country are at the Shabbat table. They’re delighted to see one another.

June 22, 2025 An existential war: Operation Rising Lion and memories of the Gulf War – comment By Barbara Sofer Thursday, June 12, 2025, was a big night in the Jerusalem Pais Arena. Our city’s beloved Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem basketball team faced arch-rivals Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv at home. Some 11,000 keyed-up fans arrived

June 21, 2025 Chalkida: The little Greek town that could – save its Jews By Barbara Sofer Lily Costi knows for sure that her family goes back at least five generations in Chalkida, Greece. “You can see their graves in the Jewish cemetery. Before that, I can’t be certain,” she said.  In Chalkida, the Jewish cemetery

June 6, 2025 Lost and found: Tefillin return after two years – opinion By Barbara Sofer Our grandson Naveh lost his tefillin two years ago. They were a prized possession, ordered from a scribe whom he had met early in his bar mitzvah preparation process and had given them to Naveh with a blessing before

May 23, 2025 Period between Passover, Shavuot a time of education and contemplation – opinion By Barbara Sofer In his new book, Judaism: A Love Story, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin quotes the speaker at his elementary school graduation, who in turn quoted the famous parable of the great Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan.  “Life is like

May 9, 2025 Israel’s ‘Ten Days of Deliverance’ were more difficult this year – opinion By Barbara Sofer On Tuesday afternoon, an organization called Yad L’Banim held its annual ceremony in Jerusalem to begin Remembrance Day. Yad L’Banim is an organization of bereaved Israeli parents. I am privileged to be invited to this most emotional of ceremonies

April 25, 2025 Independence Day 2025: 77+1 reasons I love Israel – opinion By Barbara Sofer 78 reasons I love Israel The Ayalon Mall shut down to allow the five returned hostage young women to shop in privacy. When the lifeguard at Gordon Beach in Tel Aviv heard that four hostages were rescued in Gaza, he

April 18, 2025 Shuki’s message: A Druze soldier’s story and a Passover journey – opinion By Barbara Sofer In the days leading up to Passover, I find myself thinking of a message I heard within the words of a young Druze soldier. Shuki lives in a mountaintop home in the village of Beit Jann, overlooking

April 4, 2025 The sounds of young Zionism: Listening to the International Jewish Teen Choir – opinion By Barbara Sofer I give in to an impulse to fly to the United States. My granddaughter Shani, 14, is singing in HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She’s not a soloist. There