2021

By Richard Friedman Her daughter’s Uncle Henry died.  There’s no other way to explain it when you talk to Carla Koplin Cohn, a Jewish woman who grew up in Macon, Georgia, who wound up at the crossroads of baseball — and American — history. In the early […]

Set of photos of J. George Mitnick during his service in World War II. Photo courtesy United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ronne Mitnick Hess. Ronne and Donald Hess of Birmingham, and Mara and Joshua Force of New Orleans have personal reasons for […]

A famed trial lawyer with a flair for the dramatic and a no-backing-down attitude when it came to his Jewish identity, Fred Levin made an unexpected departure on Jan. 12, succumbing to Covid-19 five days after showing symptoms “despite receiving the most advanced and best […]

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather outside the U.S. Capitol before some break into the building on Jan. 6, 2020. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Richard Friedman As Americans were shell-shocked watching the invasion of the U.S. Capitol unfold on Jan. 6, many Jews across […]

Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Arnie Fielkow The Jewish world woke up earlier this week to the news of the passing of philanthropist and casino executive Sheldon Adelson. Adelson, the founder, chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, owned […]

From “This Is Your Life” By Richard Friedman  Though dramatically different in substance, separate online Holocaust programs in Louisiana on Jan. 10 highlighted the importance of remembrance and resilience as two organizations recounted and reflected on vastly different Holocaust-era lives. The programs featured the adult […]

Several years ago, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute introduced “Journey of the Soul,” a course discussing what Judaism says about life, death and the afterlife. Rabbi Mendel Ceitlin from Chabad in Metairie, who taught the course back then, said “it became the number one Jewish […]

Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Georgia Raphael Warnock (left) and Jon Ossoff. Source: Facebook/Jon Ossoff. By Richard Friedman Some are licking their wounds, others are celebrating, and what the future will bring is unclear.  What is certain is that in the wake of the […]

By Rabbi Jonathan Miller All of us are shaken by the mob takeover of the United States’ Capitol Building this week at the urging of our president. Like many of you, I am overcome by the news and the pundits and the experts. How did […]