Between Separating Ourselves and Seeing Ourselves in Others
BY YAEL BURGESS EISENBERG When a gentile came before Hillel and said he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot,…
Our God-Given Light: Its Meaning and Basis in Jewish Tradition
BY RAANAN VANDERWALDE There is a Jewish belief that it is our role to shine a light unto the nations. Many of us are familiar with this idea and shape…
The Dangerous Narrative of the Jewish “Debt to Society”
BY OCEAN TIMMINS I believe the world has a deep antipathy towards the Jewish people, implicitly baked in over thousands of years of hatred taking various forms. There is a real…
The Purpose Embedded in Every Nation
BY LIR YISSAR The struggle to understand how God could choose just one nation, and give such purpose and responsibility to one nation, has been a persistent question for Jews…
Vast as the Stars and Sand
BY ELISHAMA SCHWARTZ Some of us lounge with verdant backyards and homey porchesOthers are squeezed by neighboring skyscrapers and smokeButEither waysometime in winter,I’ll be comforted by the beam of the…
The Sacrifice
BY NAOMI RUTTENBERG Deep within evil lies a thought worn of timeIt eagerly accepts a grant of evilThe sacrifice?You know itA scapegoat lit on fire subject to a rhymePoetry cursed…
The Ascent of the Fallen
BY SARAH BARON We are lost and foundFree yet also constrainedMany fall by the dayLost ones float up to the skyMore and moreInnocent livesLone soldiersOff the plane they emerge as…
Forever
BY RAPHAEL UNGER I was quietI would not speak,I thought that no one would remember me,Me and my little idiosyncrasies. If you’re quiet,then who will care to listen—To look and…
Right Before His Eyes
BY ARI UNGER Jacob wore a tightly buttoned plaid shirt. He had a thin, carefully trimmed mustache, and nicely pressed slacks. He sat on the couch, which was carefully covered…
“If Only My People…” Zionism in My Life
BY GIDEON ROSEN “And I will give you as a light for the nations so My salvation will reach the edge of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6) In his book, “If…