First Person

First Person Ideas

The blessing and burden of bearing first witness to Jewish history

A reflection at the close of two decades on the D.C. Jewish news beat

By Ron Kampeas December 26, 2024 6:20 pm

First Person

What Benjamin Netanyahu and I heard in the mourners’ tent after my son’s aide was killed in Gaza

Saadia Dery’s mother had lamented the lack of a draft for haredi men just a day before her son’s death.

June 25, 2024 6:49 pm

An entrance to a hotel housing evacuees from Israel's southern war zone in Modiin, Israel. (Uriel Heilman)

First Person Ideas

As Israelis await a ground war in Gaza, normal life has ground to a halt

Behind everything looms the great unknown of where this war will lead and whether it will engulf all of Israel.

October 24, 2023 12:25 pm

First Person Ideas

‘I decided to play dead … My son is still missing’: A survivor’s account from Kibbutz Nir Oz

By Neomit Dekel-Chen October 16, 2023 4:07 pm

First Person Ideas

I grieved at a funeral in Israel this week. But not for too long — another was about to start.

By Uriel Heilman October 12, 2023 5:27 pm

First Person Ideas

Without Jewish friends at my school, I feel alone in my fears about what’s happening in Israel

By Hannah Coleman October 11, 2023 12:48 pm

First Person Ideas

I’m far from the front lines, but like all Israelis, I am feeling Hamas’ attack firsthand

By Eliyahu Freedman October 7, 2023 4:21 pm

First Person

Hillel Silverman, longtime rabbi whose congregant killed JFK’s assassin, is dead at 99

By Steve North April 12, 2023 11:00 am

First Person Ideas

Standing on Albania’s Jew Street, I learned firsthand the country’s lifesaving culture of hospitality

By Naomi Tomky March 8, 2023 2:01 pm

First Person

After I stopped an attack on the subway, the victim and I bonded over Katz’s pastrami sandwiches

By Michael Luongo January 30, 2023 4:44 pm

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First Person

The blessing and burden of bearing first witness to Jewish history

What Benjamin Netanyahu and I heard in the mourners’ tent after my son’s aide was killed in Gaza

As Israelis await a ground war in Gaza, normal life has ground to a halt

‘I decided to play dead … My son is still missing’: A survivor’s account from Kibbutz Nir Oz

I grieved at a funeral in Israel this week. But not for too long — another was about to start.

Without Jewish friends at my school, I feel alone in my fears about what’s happening in Israel

I’m far from the front lines, but like all Israelis, I am feeling Hamas’ attack firsthand

Hillel Silverman, longtime rabbi whose congregant killed JFK’s assassin, is dead at 99

Standing on Albania’s Jew Street, I learned firsthand the country’s lifesaving culture of hospitality

After I stopped an attack on the subway, the victim and I bonded over Katz’s pastrami sandwiches

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