Sarah Litwak: A Teacher’s Reflection on the Temple Israel Shooting
Almost every job I have ever worked has been in childcare in the Jewish community. Needless to say, the attack at Temple Israel in Michigan on Thursday, March 12 hit me incredibly hard. From my first summer as a counselor at a Jewish day camp nearly 10 years ago, I have been asked to prepare for the possibility of becoming a target of violence and hatred. I have gone through active shooter training more times than I can count, and yet I still feel woefully unprepared. I can’t imagine going through something so traumatic. At the same time, I can’t stop picturing it happening to me, to my students, to my community.
Security Starts With Awareness
After the recent attack at a synagogue in Michigan, many in the Jewish community are asking the same question: what can we do to stay safe? The answer is not panic. It is preparation. While no security plan is perfect, there are practical habits that strengthen any community. Many of these lessons come from a
Latkes in February
The old-fashioned winter flu season has torn through our house this month.
My 6-year-old has been in and out of school as his immune system develops new skills, tampering with my ability to get work done from my home office, and then I finally got it too. Tensions are as high as our immune systems have been taxed.
I didn’t get nearly enough done today but it’s dinner time.
The Mystery of the Missing Poppy Seed Filling: Part 1
Barbara first sensed that something was wrong in the baking aisle at Kroger. The baking aisle at Kroger presented itself with its usual air of domestic orderliness. Shelves stood neatly arranged beneath the bright overhead lights, their contents aligned with reassuring precision. Pie fillings occupied their customary positions, labels facing outward in cheerful rows of
We Are the Story Bearers: Why Taking Student Leaders to Israel Matters Now
I just returned from Israel carrying stories that are impossible to ignore. I was there with Hillel International on a program called Sipurim, Hebrew for “stories.” The name could not have been more fitting. We were not there as tourists or observers. We were there to listen to people whose lives were irrevocably changed by October 7—and to carry their stories forward. We were story bearers, entrusted with carrying the voices of those whose lives were forever changed by October 7.
Lotsa Latkes
As we all know, latkes are one of the most important aspects of Hanukkah. We’ve all eaten these delicious potato pancakes and argued about whether applesauce or sour cream is the superior topping (it’s obviously applesauce). But what about other flavors of latkes?
Judaism Is a People, and Israel Is Part of That Story
I write this as we enter the holiday of Hanukkah, arguably the most Zionist holiday in existence. Not because Zionism began then. It did not. But because Hanukkah reminds us that Jewish self-determination, Jewish sovereignty, and Jewish survival in our ancestral land are not modern inventions. They are ancient. Long before modern political movements, Jews
Raising Light in a Dark Season
This time of year always feels louder than it needs to be. As the days shorten and the nights stretch, the world seems to respond by turning up the volume. Christmas music grows more insistent. Lights multiply. Schedules fill. The noise swells just as the darkness deepens. I’ve started to notice that pattern more clearly
Being a Young Dad in the Cincinnati Jewish Community
“What did the stuttering quarryman say to the dump truck?” my six-year-old asks, barely containing his giggles as he practices telling the joke we made together. “Ba-dump-dump!” This is what fatherhood looks like for me these days: crafting incredible and terrible jokes with my son, watching my toddler charm everyone with what’s commonly described as
Community Life within UC’s Jewish Frat AEPi
Wake up, hang out with the brothers, go to class, come back, hang out again, prepare for the event that day, host the event, clean the event, go to sleep, repeat. The day in the life of a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi is filled with spending time with friends, attending classes, and hosting events.