Those who have been reading these messages for a while will know that I count JRR Tolkien among my biggest literary and language influences. When I first read his works about 40-45 years ago, there was one particular passage in The Fellowship of the Ring that resonated deeply with me - with …
Late in 2025, I stood in the Roman Forum in the heart of Rome, studying the carved images of defeated Jews in the Arch of Titus with a snarl curling my lips. I had a sense of physical revulsion at seeing the manifest triumphalism of the man and the empire responsible for the destruction of t…
Over the last several days, I’ve taken particular note of developments at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. As you may know, Israel is headed to an election at the end of October. The current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been in power for about 15.5 of the last 17 years in Israel,…
Hi! I’m Dustin Hausner, and at Federation’s annual general meeting last week, I had the honor of being elected President of the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Rockland County. Having previously served as a Vice President, Board member, and member of the Community Relations Council before …
Many years ago, I did some learning and much work with Rabbi Michael Skobac, co-founder of the wonderful Jews For Judaism organization. We collaborated on countering deceptive missionary tactics and educating young and vulnerable members of our community to immunize themselves against this a…
