Masked mitzvot — welcoming new life during COVID-19
Deborah Fineblum, JNSJul 09, 2020
“In this time of great darkness, the souls who come down now must be sources of great light.” — Rabbi Doniel Katz, whose youngest child was born this spring There...
‘Healing the souls’ of neglected Israeli children
Deborah Fineblum, JNSOct 17, 2019
Many a third-grade memory features vacations with family, swimming with friends or getting a new puppy. But Chofit remembers another sort of life. One marked by extreme...
Saluting ‘Smoky’ Simon, a hero of the War of Independence
Deborah Fineblum, JNSOct 10, 2019
Nothing really prepares you for the Smoky smile and the twinkle in an eye undimmed by nearly a century on earth. And when Harold “Smoky” Simon grins at you, it’s...
Celebrating Shavuot with kids
Deborah Fineblum, JNSJun 06, 2019
It’s one of the most dramatic scenes in the Torah, as amazing as the splitting of the sea. Imagine the Master of the Universe coming down to Earth in an astounding...
In Israel, Purim is a unifying force
Deborah Fineblum, JNSFeb 22, 2018
Queen Esther and Uncle Mordechai, King Ahasuerus and that rogue Haman. All of them (and even poor old deposed Queen Vashti) would be flummoxed by the sheer volume of...
From caves to shaves: the Lag b’Omer Top 10
Deborah Fineblum, JNSMay 11, 2017
By Deborah Fineblum Lag b’Omer isn’t one of the best-known Jewish holidays — though some may notice that the men whose faces have grown fairly fuzzy following...
The Hebrew Music Museum: Two Levys’ dream
Deborah Fineblum, JNSSep 08, 2016
By Deborah Fineblum, JNS Is it a coincidence that the two people most intimately involved in creating the Hebrew Music Museum are both Levys, descendants of the ancient...
Why fast on Yom Kippur?
Deborah Fineblum, JNSOct 02, 2014
By Deborah Fineblum, JNS HERUT Shitrid vividly recalls the first Yom Kippur she fasted. She was only 10, but somehow she was able to make it through the whole day. I...
Lag b’Omer…when I was a kid
Deborah Fineblum, JNSMay 15, 2014
By Deborah Fineblum, JNS ONE of Pnina Newirth’s earliest childhood memories is a trip to Mount Meron on Lag b’Omer. But this was no ordinary family...
