Hadassah is her true soul’s name, a desert bloom,
But “Esther” is the mask for her mission she must assume.
Mordechai stands watchful at the gate,
While Haman weaves a shroud of silvered hate. … [Barrett Holman Leak]
A Hidden Star – A Poetic Megillah Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined ContributorsThe episode’s most profound utility lay not in what it celebrated, but in the mirrors it held up to our own communal failures. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Review and reaction: Black and Jewish America, Part 4 Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
In Southern California, six Jewish women are proving that the best of America isn’t found in a headline, but at a dinner table. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Building bridges, one matzah ball at a time Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish Religion, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USAI, like many, many people, have experienced a type of generosity that no bank account can quantify. I remember a moment when my little girl decided to “give back” to me. She didn’t have money, but she gave me her resources: She went into her room and emerged later with a crinkled drawing and a polished stone she had picked with a ribbon. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Contemporary Torah: Crazy poems, gold, stories and time Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined ContributorsWe have the ability to create a container for our collective soul and our physical existence, which has been under attack. We are trying to build our own places of safety, a Mishkan, here in the United States of America. And it is hard. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Contemporary Torah: Building belonging and creating sanctuary Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USAWhile the previous episodes laid the groundwork of shared trauma and early 20th-century labor solidarity, Episode 3 dives headlong into the 1960s—the decade where the “interwoven” threads of these two communities were pulled to their absolute tension and breaking point. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History, part 3 ‘Grand Alliance’ Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Holocaust, Jewish History, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USAFor years, hand-wringing over a looming “rabbinic shortage” has dominated communal discourse. However, the Atra study meticulously dismantles this narrative. The issue isn’t a lack of individuals called to service, but a profound mismatch between supply and specific demands. [Barrett Holman Leak]
The shifting sands of the rabbinate Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined ContributorsJoin historian Marc Dollinger for a live conversation on his groundbreaking book “Black Power Jewish Politics”, with an afterword by Ilana Kaufman, the CEO of Jews of Color Initiative. Susannah Heschel, a preeminent scholar and the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (z’’l), also joins the conversation. [Barrett Holman Leak]
On February 12, 1909, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded by a group including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington, and Moorfield Storey. It was on the 100th birthday of former President Abraham Lincoln. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Jewish and African American Joint Justice – Celebrating The NAACP’s 115th Anniversary Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, News Media, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USAIn the early 20th century, the established “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant” (WASP) elite viewed the motion picture industry as a tawdry, low-brow form of entertainment, largely disdaining it as a “gutter profession.” [Barrett Holman Leak]
REVIEW: Black and Jewish: An Interwoven History, Pt 2 Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, California, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBenito Antonio Martinez Ocasio – Bad Bunny – broke out and broke it down at the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show. All in Spanish, all proudly Puerto Rican. All-American. He showed the world – and it was the world watching that we are still here (seguimos aqui) despite all the horrific things being done to harm people and break their spirits. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Bad Bunny and the Goodness of Resistance Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, California, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Opinion, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USABecause I live in the intersection of being both Black and Jewish, I have learned about my identity over the years, both through experience, stories handed down to me, education, and reading. [Barrett Holman Leak]
REVIEW: Black and Jewish: An Interwoven History, Part 1 – Let My People Go Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, California, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & BroadcastIn San Diego right now, we are in a “thick fog.” When letters of “pain and rage” are weaponized, and when the Jewish community’s response ignores the JOC (Jews of Color) in its own pews, we have entered the Ninth Plague. We have stopped seeing our “brothers” and “sisters.” [Barrett Holman Leak]
Parsha Bo: Blindness and Fire Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Sitting at the meeting table at the end of the office, I asked where my representative was, and the staffer told me that Jacobs is only there when she has to vote. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Appointment with Rep. Sara Jacobs Really Means Meeting with Her Staff Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, California, Press Release, San Diego County, USA