It’s Yom Hashoah in New York and people are ripping down posters of Holocaust survivors. The survivor on the bottom left, whose face has been ripped in half, is Joseph Samuels.

Joseph was born in the Jewish quarter of Bagdhad in 1930. He survived the Farhud pogrom.

Joseph always remembers the good: "even in a time that showed the worst character of a human being, there were some Muslims that stood up in front of the Jewish homes and protected them."

"I still remember the intermittent screams of women during the night, he told us recently."

Joseph was recently photographed with Ashely Benson in the Borrowed Spotlight exhibit.

He told her "We never look back. I said to myself - how do I look ahead? And that's what has helped me push throgh to face the difficulties and failures of life, and to get to where I am."

Antisemites ripped Joseph's poster in half. He's been through worse. You cannot crush this man.

Jews have kept Shabbos through 3000 years of oppression. Through the Holocaust, the inquisition, the expulsion from Arab lands. But per this email from a @BarnardCollege employee, Jews were expected to throw that all away bc of covid protocols. The most galling line: “We understand that how you have practiced religious traditions IN THE PAST…” the students on this list serve are ORTHODOX Jews who are currently practicing. Can you imagine a similar email being sent out to observant Muslims?

Thread: My grandparents came to this country fleeing persecution. They came here bc it was safe to be a Jew. Bc their children could walk on the Street with a Magen Dovid or a kipa and not fear for their lives. They moved to this country bc their own countrymen wanted them dead. I want to believe in American exceptionalism. I used to believe that this country would be the exception to the rule. That Jews would ALWAYS be welcome and safe. I’m not sure I believe that anymore.

Tonight’s going to be an emotional night for millions of Jews around the world. A thread on a very unique Passover: During the seder, we sing “let all who are hungry come and eat.” But this year we won’t be opening our doors for anyone.

“Death to Judah’ so the flag says, ‘Judah will live forever,’ so the light answers.” Re-upping my @nytopinion piece from a while back on Hanukkah and an incredibly brave family: google.com/amp/s/www.nyti…

Today is a very special day in my family. It was on April 15th, 1945, that my grandmother, Masha Greenbaum, then Masha Ralsky was liberated from the Nazi concentration camp Bergen Belsen 74 years ago today, she went from being enslaved, to being free. She celebrates this day every year as her birthday

A thread with some thoughts before Yom Kippur: I’m blessed to worship at a shul with a fantastic rabbi who always inspires. A few weeks ago, his sermon touched on the idea of Yom Kippur (and other peak moments in religion and in life) He started by telling of a parable that is recorded in jewish tradition. A Jewish man became imprisoned. His jailor told him he could choose one day a year to be free