Shattering the Closets: An Interview with Ilan Goldman
June is Pride Month, and while the month is dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, a recent conversation with my longtime friend Ilan Goldman left me thinking about something broader.
Ilan is gay, Jewish, Israeli, a Zionist, and a former IDF tank commander. His upcoming presentation is called *Shattering the Closets*, and at first glance, you might assume it is simply a story about coming out as a gay man. It is. But it is also much more than that.
Ladies, Let’s Talk About Hair
For many women, hair is deeply personal. When nature doesn’t cooperate, we color it, straighten it, curl it, extend it, and sometimes replace it entirely. For Orthodox Jewish women, the relationship can be even more complicated. Many married women cover their hair and invest thousands of dollars in beautiful human-hair sheitels.
Avi Mayer: A Man Between Two Countries
As I opened my conversation with Avi Mayer, he told me about a cat that lived in his neighborhood. “We’re in an open relationship,” he said, settling into his seat at Cafe Alma, Pleasant Ridge’s Israeli bistro. “I feed him, but I don’t think we’re exclusive.” He said it with the timing of someone who has learned that a dry sense of humor can take you surprisingly far in life.
A Cincinnati Jew in London
Hi American Israelites… It’s been a while. Let me re-introduce myself, if you’ve forgotten: my name is Eliana Garfunkel, I graduated from Sycamore High School in 2021 and since then I’ve been outside the states for my further education. First, I was in Milan then London studying fashion design and now I’m finishing a completely new degree from Royal Holloway University of London in Creative Writing and American Literature (I get why it’s funny). I lived in Surrey, where the university actually is, for the first two years of my degree, but I started to be more religious so I moved to Golders Green to be in the community.
When Rabbis Forget the Jewish People
There are moments in Jewish life that look small from a distance but reveal something enormous up close. The controversy at the Jewish Theological Seminary over Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s honorary doctorate is one of them. Some rabbinical students and graduates objected, using the language of genocide and moral disqualification. Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz defended the invitation, noting Herzog represents the State of Israel and the Jewish people. That should have been obvious. Apparently, it is not.
Animal Farm Brings Orwell’s Warning to a New Generation
There is a reason Animal Farm continues to trouble readers and viewers across generations. Beneath its familiar barnyard setting is a warning about pride, fear, persuasion, and the subtle ways people learn to look away from what they know is wrong.
Mercy: A Movie Review
As collaboration between humans and machines accelerates, complexity grows—and so does the unpredictability of unintended consequences. That concern fuels Mercy, Timur Bekmambetov’s sleek sci-fi courtroom thriller starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. On the surface, the film presents a tense, near-future drama about a police detective forced to stand trial before an artificial intelligence he helped create. Beneath the action, however, Mercy raises a far more troubling question: when we delegate judgment to machines, whose morality are we truly enforcing?
Joshua Blatman: A Parent’s Reaction to the Shooting at Temple Israel
“Would you be interested in writing about how today’s shooting made you feel as a parent?” said the text message from my publisher.
“Oh man… I haven’t heard about it yet” I replied, startled.
Tehran Review: The Spy Thriller for Fans of Homeland and 24
Do you have a Homeland– or 24-sized hole in your TV viewing? Then Tehran is the show for you. Warning: There will be spoilers in this review. Tehran sits right in the sweet spot between Homeland’s slower, more methodical spy pacing and 24’s high-stakes, adrenaline-fueled action. It has the patience of a smart espionage drama,
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.