July 30, 2025
On June 12th at 7:40 pm local time in Chicago, I received a WhatsApp text from my nineteen-year-old son Matthew who was in Israel: You’ve probably heard what’s happening now I am safe in the subway I was out to dinner with friends and had just gotten an alert saying that Israel had preemptively struck Iran as part of its...
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June 25, 2025
I grew up in Wellington, Florida, a quiet suburb on the western edge of Palm Beach County. Back then, it felt like the middle of nowhere, the last stop before the hinterlands. To the north was rural Loxahatchee, with its giant trucks and Confederate flags. To the west and further inland, you had Belle Glade, then one of the most...
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June 20, 2025
This article appeared in The Times of Israel on June 20, 2025. This is what it felt like to be there — leading a magical LGBTQ+ Birthright Israel group through 10 days of joy, three days of shelter, two days evacuated to safety in the Dead Sea and an emergency sunrise cruise international mission. The Pride Parade in Tel Aviv...
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June 17, 2025
I've always been proud to be Jewish. Growing up as an Ashkenazi Jew, I found joy in celebrating holidays and traditions with my family, watching the Rugrats Passover special on an orange VHS tape, and listening to Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song.” Of course, my pride and connection to Judaism was also deeply rooted in food. My Grandma Mindy’s matzo ball...
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May 5, 2025
When I was a kid, my family moved around a lot — from Mexico to Vancouver, eventually settling in Houston. But no matter where we lived, one thing was constant: our connection to Judaism and the Jewish community. In Houston, I was lucky to attend Beren Academy, where I developed a strong sense of Jewish pride and learned the importance...
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April 8, 2025
Rachel Moon is a beauty and fashion influencer and a pro-Israel activist with over 100,000 followers. She lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. My mom is Jewish. My dad wasn’t, but he adopted everything — every tradition, every holiday. He even led our Seders. My Jewish identity has been important to me for as long as I can remember....
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April 8, 2025
I’m 32 years old, born in Russia, and raised in New Jersey. My family came to the U.S. in 1996 as refugees fleeing antisemitism in the former Soviet Union. I’ve spent my adult life in America, working in the entertainment industry, and more recently transitioning into the mental health space. Being of service — giving back — has always been...
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April 7, 2025
My mother is Korean and my father is Israeli. I grew up Modern Orthodox, in a Zionist home, waving blue-and-white flags at my Jewish Orthodox school on Yom Ha'atzmaut. Before October 7th, I grew up hearing stories of my grandparents who survived the Holocaust, and my grandfather who served in the IDF and narrowly escaped death several times fighting for...
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April 1, 2025
I didn’t go on Birthright when I was younger. I had been to Israel once before — on a family trip in July 2023, just a few months before October 7th. That vacation lit a spark. But after October 7th, something shifted. The fire was lit. Honestly, it started with an Instagram ad. I saw something pop up about volunteer...
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April 1, 2025
I grew up in a small town outside of Philadelphia. My mom enrolled me in a Jewish preschool, so I was immersed in Jewish culture from early on. I remember chopping fruit for Shabbat and making challah. I loved it. I was always a curious kid, eager to learn, and I’d follow along with my older friends in Hebrew school....
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