By Marilyn Shapiro I will never forget where I was when I heard of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. My husband Larry and I were in front of our computer, chatting with our fellow Congregation Shalom Aleichem members before our Rosh Hashanah Zoom service was to begin. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away,” interjected a member who had just […]

By CARIN M. SMILK (JNS) – This was supposed to be a celebratory week—the week that parents everywhere could finally relax a little, breathe in and feel that their children are learning again. While it looks very different, it’s still something—and something, as they say, is better than nothing. Yet, the first-day photos didn’t look right. (The fact that the […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to The Jewish World! And Happy Birthday to the World! It was Labor Day—how fitting!  On Sept. 3, 1950, as my mother’s doctor had a noon golf date, Frances Cohen accommodated his schedule by delivering me a little after 9 a.m. The Jewish World came along 15 years later. Inspired by […]

By MOSHE RAAB NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – As my calendar announced the approach of September, I began to relive an event that took place exactly 50 years ago. On Sept. 6, 1970, my mother, my four siblings and I were on a plane that was hijacked by terrorists. Loss Of Innocence TWA flight 741 was one of three planes […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO How will I celebrate a milestone birthday during the pandemic?  That hoped-for week away with my family is out. A party at my home is out. Heck! My husband Larry and I can’t even head to my favorite restaurant and indulge in a filet mignon and a free birthday brownie sundae. But there is a silver lining. […]

By Rabbi REBECCA BLADY BERLIN (JTA) – Across the room sat a man, a murderer, who had tried to kill me and 51 others  who were praying in the Halle Synagogue last Yom Kippur. Responding to question after question from the judge, he espoused the most hateful ideology, showing no shame at his open contempt and cruel rhetoric toward Muslims […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO In 1994, I attended, along with a number of my colleagues from the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center, an Office of Special Programs (OSP) conference in downstate New York. After the opening night’s dinner, I wandered over to venders’ tables that had been set up in an adjoining room. The items included many that reflected the African-American […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO If these were normal times, my husband Larry and I would have already flown out to San Francisco to meet our new grandson. If these were normal times, I would be writing this column in Colorado, where we would have settled into a summer rental close to our daughter, her husband, and my four-year old granddaughter. These […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO Every Friday afternoon since the corona virus has turned our world upside down, I have been baking fresh challah. I revel in the process: the measuring, the gradual rising, and especially the eating. But it has become so much more. As Roche Pinson wrote in her book, Rising: The Book of Challah, “We make challah from a […]

By Marilyn Shapiro Yes, I know the old adage that says life changes on a dime, and that you never know what will happen tomorrow. But now my life is filled with too many questions regarding the future. Will Larry, my husband, or I contract COVID-19? If we do, will we die? How about my children and grandchildren? What are their chances of […]