Jul 11, 2016
As I sit on the plane flying home after our first-ever Silicon Valley Community Trip to Israel, I want to reflect on the passing of Elie Wiesel. We were in Jerusalem when we heard that Elie Wiesel had died, and it just so happened that our group was slated to...
Family Life / Food / Jewish Life
Jun 30, 2016
Greetings from Israel, where we’re kicking off the first-ever OFJCC Silicon Valley Community Israel Trip. Our journey began with a rousing speech by former Hillel International President Avraham Infeld, in which he forcefully declared, “Judaism is not a religion! We are a people WITH a religion!” He said he was taught this by...
May 4, 2016
Did you know tomorrow is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day? What will you do differently? Maybe you will wear white. Maybe you will go to a ceremony at your local JCC or synagogue. Maybe you will light a yahrtzeit candle. Or maybe you won’t do anything special at all tomorrow. But...
Apr 22, 2016
What was your favorite childhood Jewish experience? For me, it was our family Passover Seders. Every year, my family would schlep across the country to Maryland or New Jersey or Florida—depending on whose turn it was to host—to join my aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents, so we could retell...
Dec 16, 2015
On Sunday, November 22, over 750 attendees participated in an all-day conference at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, California called “Zionism 3.0: Israel’s Place in Tomorrow’s World.” In partnership with Ha’aretz newspaper, we hosted speakers from across the political spectrum – from Bret Stephens to Peter Beinart, from...
Dec 16, 2015
This was written in early November from my hotel in Jerusalem where I attended the JCC Global Conference and JCC Innovation Summit with approximately 500 other global JCC leaders. It was before the horrific terror attack in Paris, and, most recently, in San Bernardino. These reflections feel even timelier now. I was invited...
Nov 9, 2015
Over the last three decades, I have watched with deep sadness as our community cleaved further and further apart over how to support Israel. I am not so naive as to think that Jews will ever be of one mind when it comes to any issue, much less one so complicated as...
Sep 13, 2015
As we begin a new year in the Jewish calendar, we traditionally use this opportunity to look back on the past year, take stock of our lives, apologize for our mistakes, wipe the slate clean and start over. This is a chance for us to be grateful for our blessings...
Aug 4, 2015
Summertime: What comes to mind when you think of it? For me it’s tall glasses of iced tea, condensation dripping down the glass. It’s sunglasses, bathing suits and sand toys for the beach. It’s family vacations, road trips and sleeping in nylon tents in the backyard. And it’s summer camp. My summer...
Jun 21, 2015
Editor’s note: This essay originally appeared in The Times of Israel. Today is both Father’s Day and the 6-month anniversary of my father’s passing. So in honor of his memory, I want to share a few thoughts on what I learned from my dad. For he was, among other things,...