israeli

February 10, 2023 A return to Club J: A winter in the French Alps with Israelis – opinion By Barbara Sofer The African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided some 35 million years ago to form the 12,000-kilometer-long mountain range called the Alps. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch reputedly said, “When I shall stand before God, the […]

January 27, 2023 Horseshoe antisemitism: Jew hatred on the far Right, Left – opinion By Barbara Sofer “Horseshoe antisemitism” is a new term for me. I’m trying to catch up on the escalating crisis of antisemitism in the land of my birth, the USA. I have the rare opportunity of hearing two contemporary experts on

January 13, 2023 2023 is a New Year for Birthright Israel – opinion By Barbara Sofer I’m starting off 2023 on the right foot. At 7:30 a.m. on January 1, I’m waiting to meet a cousin named Jordan, like the river, in the dining room of a Jerusalem hotel. She’s the granddaughter of a dear

December 30, 2022 How should Israel feel about the 2022 Qatar World Cup? – opinion By Barbara Sofer Among the creative advertisements – our version of Super Bowl commercials – that supported the World Cup broadcasting on Israel TV was one of an Israeli couple settling in front of the TV to cheer the home

December 16, 2022 Kaunas, Lithuania: Culture celebration confronts Holocaust memory – opinion By Barbara Sofer I’m in Kaunas, a pretty city of 300,000 residents in south central Lithuania. I’ve come for the closing events of Kaunas 2022, a year-long program facilitated when Kaunas was designated a European Capital of Culture. This city is better known

December 2, 2022 JPost at 90: The power of a story – opinion By Barbara Sofer I began writing regularly for The Jerusalem Post at the end of 1999, after responding to a column that so incensed me that I felt compelled to respond. That column celebrated the decision of the writer’s healthy 18-year-old son

November 20, 2022 Memoirs: Sometimes it’s important to look back and not just forward By Barbara Sofer I have two new books on my desk, both by Jerusalem women. They were given to me by their authors because they have a connection to Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. Both were completed during the

November 7, 2022 Why people with disabilities have trouble with dentists – opinion By Barbara Sofer I’m sitting in the dentist chair trying to be the best patient ever. I want the dentist to tell me I’m doing great. I’m aware that the desire for such praise is silly, but am I not in the

October 21, 2022 Hakhel: Jews, assemble! The once every seven years ceremony – opinion By Barbara Sofer In modern Israel, the ancient Hakhel ceremony is reenacted in Jerusalem every seven years on the second intermediate day of the Sukkot holiday. I wanted to go. I consider myself a youthful septuagenarian but can’t count on being

October 7, 2022 Yom Kippur: Remember the debt Israel owes to its soldiers – opinion By Barbara Sofer Moshe Levy. The name is so common, you might think it’s John Doe or Everyman Israeli. Even a pseudonym. The man on stage is indeed Moshe Levy. I’m in the trendy Tel Aviv nightclub and music venue