Abigail Klein Leichman

Abigail Klein Leichman is a journalist who made aliya with her family in 2007, following 13 years as a features writer and copy editor at The Record, the daily newspaper of northern New Jersey. She has been freelancing since 1984 for a wide variety of secular and Jewish publications and is a staff writer for ISRAEL21c.

Statue of Spinoza by Nicolas Dings in Zwanenburgwal, Amsterdam, with the inscription ‘The objective of the state is freedom,’ quoted from his ‘Tractatus Theologico-Politicus.’

'Why Am I a Jew?' A sincere attempt at addressing big questions about Judaism - book review

 SELF-PORTRAIT of Pinchas Shaar (1923-1996).

Israel's ‘palace’ of art and architecture in Ma’aleh Adumim marks 15 years

‘Jewish Wedding,’ by Jozef Israëls, 1903.

'Choosing to Be Chosen': The path from 'bleak atheism' to Orthodox Judaism - review


Paul, Beth White: Grateful volunteers from New York to Israel

The Whites have made new friends and gotten closer with casual friends, through working side by side as volunteers. And they don’t anticipate slowing down.

Dr. Paul White, 71 Beth White, 68

Bonnie and Meir Chasan: Senior citizens giving back through volunteering

Even before retiring – he when COVID hit, she about a year ago – volunteering was always part of the mix for this youthful and active couple. 

Bonnie and Meir Chasan.

Ross Pinsky: Discovering the beauty of the world via mathematics

'We have a picture of my father in 1981, demonstrating in front of the French embassy in Washington with a placard condemning France’s release of Abu Daoud, a mastermind of the Munich massacre.'

Prof. Ross Pinsky teaches a class at the Technion.

Start-ups in Jerusalem: Longevity firms bloom in Israel’s ancient capital

The field of longevity tech, also called silver tech or age tech, encompasses age-delaying biotechnologies intended to add years to life.

Tech It Forward’s Jennifer Elias (L) and Jessica Rosner.

A comical series of bureaucratic frustration: Effi Frohwein's aliyah story

After Oct. 7, I had in mind that I want to be with my family, meaning Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael

FROHWEIN FAMILY (from L): Effi, Zachy, Koby, Hilary, Mikayla.

Anya Lipster: A Russian Israeli with the soul of a Japanese artist

Today, though her professional responsibilities keep her busy all week long, Anya Lipster devotes weekends to “drinking coffee in front of a mountain view, studying, and drawing a lot.”

Anya Lipster

Decades of impact: David Golinkin reflects on his legacy of pluralistic Jewish education

Upon his retirement as president of The Schechter Institutes, longtime ‘oleh’ David Golinkin talks about his Israel impact – via pluralistic Jewish education that goes to the people.

RABBI DAVID GOLINKIN at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. The mural adorning the building, ‘Ot Hi L’Olam,’ created by a group of nine artists in 2019, includes overlapping layers of quotations from Hebrew poetry.

Mordechai Frizis: Israel advocate to Greek public

This transplanted Greek rabbi intends to continue his hasbara efforts on behalf of Israel.

RABBI MORDECHAI FRIZIS

Knowing when the time is right: Shawn Fink's story of aliyah

At 7:37 a.m., as I was walking out to go to shul with my son, our landline phone rang. It was a woman at the Jewish Agency.

The Fink family in front of their sukkah in Carmei Gat.

Meshigane: Plant-based culinary delights - review

I look forward to sampling whatever creative, cruelty-free concoctions they’ll conjure up next.

Meshigane