Tag: Hope
“This is our life.”–Dispatch from Palestine
Dhesheh Refugee Camp houses 17,000 people in less than 1 square kilometer. It was established for two waves of refugees in 1948 and 1967 by the United Nations, which is still in charge of providing me... Read More
“You are an ambassador”–Dispatch from Palestine
We drive along the barbed electric fence that surrounds the Israeli settlement of Har Gilo. We are headed to the Walajah valley of the Palestinian territory. The valleys are deep and lush with pine ... Read More
The Beginning of a Settlement — Dispatch from Palestine
Mahmoud’s family lives one Palestinian hill over from a newly-forming illegal Jewish settlement. Six Jewish settlers arrived about a year ago with tents and made a primitive campsite. All year they ... Read More
“Come and see, then go and tell”–Dispatch from Palestine
The Tent of Nations is an organic farm on a long narrow strip of Palestinian land that has held its deed since 1917, through four occupations: Turkish, British, Jordanian, and Israeli. It is placed in... Read More
“Just Tell Our Story” — Dispatch from Palestine
We met Shirim at her family’s olive grove plot. It falls just outside the Betar Illit settlement. More accurately, it falls on the entire hill but the settlement imposed itself right on top of the f... Read More
When in Rome, Do as the Progressive Roman Jews Do
I was late to Rosh Hashanah services at Beth Hillel, Rome’s new progressive Jewish community. I meant to leave my apartment at 6pm but I scooted out the door by 6:45pm, realizing that the mistake wo... Read More
Rage, rage (against the dying of the light)
A year or two ago, I studied under a professor who somehow know just which buttons to push to transform my serene, scholarly public self into a senseless wreck. Admittedly, that public persona was a... Read More
Born on the 9th of Av: Misery and Messianism
From Monday night until Tuesday night, Jews around the world will observe a day which is, incontrovertibly, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar. We will fast for the 25 hours from sunset to sunset,... Read More