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Cheesecake and Conflict

JL;DR SUMMARY Megan Naftali reflects on her complex relationship with faith and family during the Jewish festival of Shavuot, set against a backdrop of personal loss and rising antisemitism. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

FamilyJewish IdentityDiasporaTerrorismMemorialCommunityFaithShavuot

Places mentioned

Israel
"Although she had lived and died in the United States, she was born in Israel and wanted to be buried there, so I was in Israel for over a month for her funeral and the memorial."
Washington, DC, Washington DC, United States
"Not two weeks after I was supposed to leave for Israel, two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed in front of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, in the name of freeing Palestine."
Boulder, Colorado, United States
"Two days agothe day Shavuot startedanother act of antisemitic terrorism occurred in Boulder, CO, when a man targeted a peaceful march calling for the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza."
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"But as luck and the Houthis would have it, I didnt make it there; our flight was canceled after the Iran-backed group threatened an aerial blockade on Israel following its missile strike on Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv (El Al was still flying in and out of Israel, but the cost was astronomical, and seats were selling out within minutes anyway)."

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Cairo Item ID 53111
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Retrieved 2025-06-04 05:30:52 UTC
Curated 2025-06-04 08:31:00 UTC