March 4, 2021
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I was the Bat Mitzvah that questioned whether I wanted to be Jewish. I outright questioned my rabbi if I didn’t believe in a God, does that mean I should make a transition in front of the entire synagogue – Shir Tikvah – that I attended. This foundation and encouragement to question the world I […]
Continue readingAugust 21, 2020
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So they call it “cancel culture.” Someone says or does something racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. and then there is a consequence. Maybe it’s a TV show that gets canceled or maybe someone is forced to resign. Maybe a politician ends his campaign or maybe a product is pulled from the shelves. Aunt Jemima anyone? Social […]
Continue readingJuly 23, 2020
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This year has been an interesting one, and Jasmine Brett Stringer means that in the most Minnesotan of ways. But out of the despair from COVID-enforced quarantine to the killing of George Floyd, Stringer is taking it as a call to action. Stringer, a writer, speaker, and lifestyle personality, founded #ShareTheMicMN late last month as […]
Continue readingJuly 16, 2020
April 1, 2020
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In the eighth episode of The Mandalorian, we learn that being Mandalorian is not a race but a creed. It is a way of life defined by the values one holds, the rules one follows, and the lens through which one derives meaning in life. Watching the episode, I was struck by how the concept […]
Continue readingJanuary 24, 2020
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I didn’t recognize her first behind the desk from my helpdesk job as she waved at me. It took me a second to realize why. My devout Muslim friend had taken off her hijab, she was too afraid to wear it in an atmosphere where respect and tolerance for other religions were quickly dwindling. Called […]
Continue readingJanuary 23, 2020
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Whether it’s 25,000 people marching in New York or 1,400 at Temple Israel in Minneapolis, it’s abundantly clear that the Jewish community is concerned about the rising tide of anti-Semitism. Renown activist and organizer Eric Ward has been watching this trend for decades, which is why he’s been traveling the country to help understand and […]
Continue readingJanuary 14, 2020
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I was told by an orthodox Israeli I met on a hike in the English Peak District that I was a Jew. Which made me feel extremely uncomfortable as I was daydreaming about the bacon cheeseburger I was surely going to order at the pub that night and I was looking forward to a side […]
Continue readingJanuary 10, 2020
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When my 49-year-old daughter calls me with the question, “When is it time to leave?” I don’t know what to say because I don’t have an answer. Should it have been when her 7th-grade daughter had to leave the Day School when the JCC got a call that there was a bomb, and all the students […]
Continue readingJanuary 9, 2020
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For this American Jew, the biggest shock of the evident rise of antisemitism in this land of my birth is that so many other American Jews seem to find it so shocking. This sense of dissonance isn’t new. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, I, too, was overcome by our national anguish. But when […]
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