Intermountain Jewish News

Sheina Vaspi, a world-class one-legged skier from Israel and part-time Colorado resident, says she was not born to hit the slopes. In fact, she did not take up skiing till she was 16. Vaspi, now 24, was Israel’s first representative four years ago in the Paralympic Games. Four years later, she is again the only Israeli at the Paralympics, which end March 15.

By Steve Mark & Shana Goldberg One couple. Two deaths. Two years apart. Same location. Same lethal danger. Same bafflement over municipal authorities. Gerald “Gerry” Goldberg, a Denver native who knew so many in the Denver community, was killed in a car accident on March 2, 2026, in the very same, dangerous traffic intersection as his wife was, two years earlier. Mr. Goldberg, a US Army veteran, was 82. He was born May 26, 1943 to Josephine and Louis Goldberg.

By Jeff Myers An Israeli security agent at JFK disabused me of the notion that getting into Israel during a time of war wouldn’t be that different than my previous trips. She sifted through every item in my suitcase and backpack, asking probing questions. “Why are you going to Israel now? Don’t you know we are at war?” Arriving at Tel Aviv’s nearly empty Ben Gurion Airport, I was once again questioned. This time, I was ready. “I’m on a solidarity mission,” I said.

Why not this, too? After all, he shared his deepest thoughts with me for decades. Thoughts about current events, about his family, about the world of Musar, about Israel. As I write in the immediate aftermath of his passing I am in shock and cannot logically summon or classify all he shared with me, and taught me. But it was unrestricted. So why not this, too? Having heard of a major event in or out of his life, we spoke, and he explained.

By Zachy Hennessey In Israel, a critical point in the ADHD diagnosis process is the MOXO test: a computerized assessment tool that measures attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity through interactive tasks on a computer or tablet. I took the MOXO a few years ago. I believe it is flawed. The test’s outcome was largely based on my ability to focus and maintain self-control for a relatively short time (about 20 minutes) on a task intentionally designed to be mind-numbingly boring.

Last summer, when Carol Ann Schwartz of Cincinnati was elected national president of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, she was set to lead the organization through its planned expansion of Hadassah Hospital’s services and facilities in Israel. The future looked rosy. By the time Schwartz assumed office on Jan. 1, 2024, that rosy future had turned to disaster and emergency response. Since Oct.

Almost immediately after Oct. 7, local Jewish agencies began organizing. By the time Simchat Torah ended in Denver, JEWISHcolorado and the Jewish Agency had announced a briefing for that night, Oct. 8. Elsewhere in the intermountain region, however, the infrastructure did not exist for an immediate response. But it didn’t take long for local community activists around the region to form groups and coalitions to advocate for Jews and the State of Israel.

Still here. Still gazing forward. Those who view this past year as terrible for Israel might wish to recall the view a year ago. On Israel’s 75th anniversary, the learned commentators said that Israel was over, finished; hopelessly divided, collapsing into civil war, doomed. It was wisely noted that no independent Jewish state after the fall of the First Temple had ever continued longer than 75 years. Of course, this past year has been terrible.

By Elizabeth Karpen, New York Jewish Week via JTA NEW YORK — King Boris III reigned over Bulgaria from his father’s abdication in 1918 — after Bulgaria’s defeat in WW I — until his mysterious death at 49 in 1943. A controversial leader who was nonetheless beloved by his people, the tsar is most remembered today for an action many historians don’t even credit him with: saving the lives of some 50,000 Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust.

What utterly brutal, shattering days. A Yom Hazikaron like no other — at least in my lifetime. Face after face. Family after family. Story after story. Harrowing story after harrowing story. Hero after hero. Young kids, basically. Yet giants of valor, giants of spirit. Kids, who transcended their youth, their age, their generation. Little did we know. True, impending heroes had lived and breathed, had walked amongst us. And what are we left with? Endless pain. Endless grieving. Endless brokenness.