Berkshire Jewish Voices: Finding Comfort Outside Our Comfort Zones

Richard Reiss felt certain that his close adult friendships would be formed with people from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds, as they were during his youth. That didn't happen - the social circles he inhabited were predominantly Jewish. In this Berkshire Jewish Voices…

In My View: Ascending Our Communal Ladder

In this month's In My View column, Federation president Elisa Schindler-Frankel reflects on a record-setting fundraising year in 2021 and shares some thoughts on all that might be accomplished by this organization in the year ahead

In Time for Purim: Booze and Jews (A History in [Some] Moderation), Part II

In the second part of his history of the Jewish connection to the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages, the BJV's bronfin (Yiddish for whisky) correspondent Alex Rosenblum explores 20th century liquor moguls, 21st century kiddush clubs, and 16th century kashrut issues

Imagining Unconditional Love as Our Fallback Position Towards Others

In this Rabbi Reflection, Rabbi Neal Borovitz explores the danger of "sinat chinam" (groundless hatred) within the Jewish community and how it might be checked by the practice of "ahavat chinam" (unconditional love).

"Those" People in These Times

In this Berkshire Jewish Voices essay, local author Richard Reiss writes about how anti-Semitism has affected his life, and on the importance of taking action as anti-Jewish acts spike in the United States today.