I was a young adult, dozens of Passover Seders in the rear view, before I realized we were Doing It Wrong. Not the whole Seder, just the afikoman — that half-piece of matzo you tuck away in a special bag as the world’s lamest “dessert,” without which, the tradition goes, you cannot complete the Seder. My sisters and I, like other Jewish kids the world over, knew the afikoman was one of the Seder rituals designed to keep us engaged, and we were game. We’d plot creative new spots in our living room to hide the thin package, and look forward to the little gifts we’d inevitably collect by night’s ..read more

A new album by Taylor Swift is not merely the release of a new collection of songs. It is a major pop-cultural event, given the widespread consensus that Swift is the world’s biggest pop star. (Beyoncé fans may beg to differ.) And the consensus surrounding The Tortured Poets Department, which went on sale and began streaming today, is that Swift’s eleventh album is a bravado portrait of triumphing over heartbreak. But underlying Swift’s ballads and bangers about her emotional rollercoaster is also a sense of the singer’s struggles with her own identity, vis-à-vis her ex-lovers, her fans, and ..read more

(JTA) — The State Department on Friday announced sanctions against Ben Zion “Bentzi” Gopstein, a prominent far-right Israeli activist, for his “destabilizing” activities in the West Bank, along with two Israeli organizations that raised funds for sanctioned settlers. The penalties were the third round of sanctions the State Department has levied against far-right Israelis in recent months, as the Biden administration attempts to exact a price for West Bank violence. Gopstein is a leading figure on the far-right, helming the anti-Arab Lehava activist group. He is an ally to Israeli National Sec ..read more

“In every generation,” the Haggadah states, “a person is obligated to view themself as if they left Egypt.”  I used to fawn over this teaching. It invited me to contemplate my own “personal slavery” and my need for “inner liberation.” Estranged from real enslavement, I mined Pesach’s themes for relevant meaning to my own life and found avenues of insight. But when I think about that type of introspection for this year’s Pesach, all that comes to mind are the hostages trapped in Gaza. This Monday night, as Jews around the world celebrate our national liberation from biblical Egypt by God ..read more

(JTA) — As dignitaries stood on stage in Warsaw to mark the 81st anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a lone figure got up to join them: a man wearing a hoodie with the colors of the Palestinian flag. The man placed flowers atop a pile assembled for the occasion, then moved to the side of the stage where he unfurled a large Palestinian flag and stood with his head down, according to an attendee at the event. The protest featured just one participant and resolved without derailing the ceremony when police officers escorted him offstage. Still, it offered evidence of just how extensive and ..read more

This story is part of “Israel’s Northern Front,” a series examining life during wartime at Israel’s northern border. KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel (JTA) — One evening last November, Toby Abutbul was busy with his family’s shawarma restaurant on the main drag of the northern Galilee city of Kiryat Shmona when an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah slammed into the sidewalk a couple of doors down. Nearby gas canisters exploded, the street instantly burst into flames, cars caught fire and smoke filled the night air. By then, the vast majority of the 25,000 residents of this city less than two miles fro ..read more

איבערגעזעצט פֿון העברעיִש פֿון אלי שאַרפֿשטיין וועגן פֿיר בנים דערציילט אונדז די תּורה. איך פֿאַרבעט אײַך זיך צו באַקענען מיט די פֿיר בנים, וואָס לעבן אין מיר. פֿיר בנים. אַמאָל העלפֿן זיי מיר אויפֿשטײַגן, און אַמאָל האַלטן זיי אָפּ מײַן פֿאָרויסגיין. נאָר אַלע פֿיר ווילן פֿאַר מיר דאָס בעסטע, און טוען אַלץ מיך צו פֿאַרהיטן. אַלע מאָל, ווען איך וויל אָנהייבן עפּעס א נײַע זאַך, אַ נײַעם פּראָיעקט, מאַכט דער רשע אַ געוואַלד: „טו ניט, דו ביסט נישט קיין מומחה, ס’איז נישט ווערט דײַן אַרבעט, אַ שאָד דײַנע כּוחות, דו ביסט שוין נישט אַזוי יונג.“ דער, וואָס ווייסט נישט וואָס צו פֿרעגן, ער רעדט מיט אויס ..read more

The Kapshitter did not have a chance on Oct. 7. That Saturday morning the four members of the family – the father, Evgeny (Zhenya), 37, the mother, Dina, 34, and their two small children, 8-year-old Aline and 5-year-old Eitan – were on their way back to their home in Be’er Sheva from a camping trip near Ashkelon, when they were ambushed by Hamas terrorists, who sprayed their car with bullets, killing them all. The horrors did not end there. Identification of the bodies took many days, and was completed at different times for each of them, which meant their funerals could not take place at the ..read more

Against the odds, the Turtles carry on.  The group, formed by Jewish singer-guitarists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan in 1965, began helming a multi-band tour comprising ‘60s rock groups in 1984. It kicked up again in 2010 and has continued under the banner of the Happy Together Tour — “Happy Together” being the Turtles No. 1 hit from 1967.  This year’s 38-date tour — the Turtles alongside The Cowsills, Jay and the Americans, The Association, Joey Molland’s Badfinger and the Vogues — begins June 1 in Biloxi, Mississippi and runs through Sept. 2 in Puyallup, Washington. But the Turtles ..read more

This is a developing story. (JTA) — Five days after fending off a sweeping attack by Iran, Israel has struck back by bombing Iranian territory, according to several reports that cite an unnamed U.S. government source. The exact site of the strike early Friday morning Iranian time is unknown but explosions were reported in the area of Isfahan, a city with a major air force base. ABC also said there had reportedly been strikes in Iraq and Syria, where Iranian forces and proxies have a presence.  Fox News and CNN, also citing unnamed U.S. sources, reported that the strikes were “limited” in ..read more