By MARILYN SHAPIRO The murder of 11 Jews while they were observing Shabbat occurred in the heart of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The Rev. Fred Rogers and his wife Joanne owned a home and raised their two sons in Squirrel Hill, just two blocks from the Tree of Life Synagogue, the scene of the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre. Who Was Mr. […]

By LISA KEYS This article in its entirety originally appeared on Kveller. The decision to take our kids to the recent No Hate, No Fear Solidarity March did not come easily. At least, not at first. It’s hard to say what, precisely, gave me pause. My kids are no strangers to social activism — their elementary school is named for a […]

Too few know the history of the Nazi methodical mass murder of disabled people. That is why I write. By Kenny Fries The NY Times – My first visit to the Aktion T4 killing site at Brandenburg an der Havel was in autumn. My destination, where 9,000 disabled people were murdered as part of the Nazi “euthanasia” program, is embedded in […]

By YISROEL B. MONSEY, N.Y. (JTA) – On Saturday night, I was invited to a Chanukah party at a friend’s house. I drove through the tranquil Monsey streets and arrived at 10:30 p.m. Much to my surprise, I found the front door locked. I called my friend, who quickly opened up and locked the door behind me. I entered and […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO When I was in junior high school, our class had a dance. Times were very different, and we, the eighth graders, were very naive, young, and shy. When our two teacher chaperones saw that no one was on the dance floor, they suggested the following: Why don’t the boys ask the girls to take a walk outside […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO Thanksgiving is over! That means Cyber Monday is not far behind. The term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by Ellen Davis, the senior vice president of the National Retail Federation, to encourage people to buy on-line. According to Adobe Analytics, Cyber Monday 2018 generated over $7.9 billion in sales, with one of the top sellers spent […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO When my daughter Julie headed out to Colorado in 2003, it was originally planned as a nine-month adventure teaching environmental science. Soon, however, Julie fell in love with the mountains, Colorado, and Sam, not necessarily in that order. They built a life together, completed graduate degrees, got married, bought a house in Frisco, and had a child. […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO Recently, my husband Larry and I saw “The Public.” We knew little about the movie when we joined a sparsely filled ballroom in our community for a showing. By the time the end credits rolled, however, the two of us as well as others in the audience agreed it was one of the best movies that we […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO The High Holidays are a special time, but it is even more special when family—and a little romance—are part of the season. In 1951, my future husband Larry’s father Ernie, a World War II veteran, was called back into the U.S. Army. Larry’s mother Doris, along with Larry and Larry’s older sister Anita, moved from Schuylerville, to […]

By Mayim Bialik LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In the Reform synagogue I was raised in, they taught us a song around the Jewish New Year: Let’s be friends. Make amends. Now’s the time to say I’m sorry. Let’s be friends. Make amends. Please say you’ll forgive me. For the 10 days of teshuvah, it’s time to make up; time to […]