Dave Schechter

Atlanta

Journalist/writer. Author: "A Life of the Party" (published October 2024). Husband. Father. Soccer fan. Retweets are not endorsements.

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Articles

A Report from Dave’s Garden

1 week ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

From Where I SitOpinion The kiwi plant has fallen, a victim of its own appetite. The raspberries and blueberries rejoice.
Trump at 100 Days Divides Jewish Atlanta

2 weeks ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

Opinions in Jewish Atlanta about the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second presidency — a milestone marked on April 30 — tend to mirror those the AJT reported on after he had been in office for 30 days. The torrent of executive orders and policy changes may have eased somewhat, but almost daily there is news that either delights or disgusts, the reaction depending on one’s political persuasion.
Jewish Atlanta's Views on Trump at 100 Days

2 weeks ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

Opinions in Jewish Atlanta about the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second presidency — a milestone marked on April 30 — tend to mirror those the AJT reported on after he had been in office for 30 days. The torrent of executive orders and policy changes may have eased somewhat, but almost daily there is news that either delights or disgusts, the reaction depending on one’s political persuasion.
Memorial Ceremony Exposes a ‘Chasm’

3 weeks ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

I have heard the following from Jewish friends in recent months: There is so much happening in this country, I just don’t have the bandwidth to invest in Israel. I get that. There is much of critical importance happening at home. I nonetheless was surprised when a friend told me that he was losing interest in Israel, so great was his frustration over the war in Gaza, the hostage ordeal, and other issues.
Looking Back while Looking Forward

1 month ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

Some years ago, I carried a video camera as my father narrated a tour of the New York he knew growing up. New York was his city (and the Yankees his team), no matter living in Chicago for nearly 60 years. As a young man, I felt no burning desire to be in New York. I found the city intimidating, in the abstract and when I visited.
Life in a ‘Narrow Place’

2 months ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

In a three-hour period on a recent Sunday afternoon, we had reason to celebrate and mourn. The original plan called for us to fly on the Saturday to Miami, where my wife would attend a Sunday “ladies lunch” for her soon-to-be 80-year-old aunt, while I hung out with her uncle, one of my favorite members of the family. But on Friday afternoon, we received a call from the son of long-time friends, informing us that his mother had succumbed to pancreatic cancer.
Another Seder, Another Empty Chair

2 months ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

As I prepare the Haggadah for this year’s Seder — an annual cut-and-paste project that covers the basics while introducing new pages and dropping others — I’m considering Passovers past. The headline on my column a year ago read, “Leave an Empty Chair at Your Seder Table.” Below that was a sub-head that said: “Passover will not be a ‘chag sameach,’ a happy holiday, for the families of those killed on Oct.
‘Years of Joy and Light — Now Extinguished.’ - Atlanta Jewish Times

2 months ago | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

Ohad Yahalomi was one of four murdered hostages whose bodies Hamas returned on Feb. 27. “It has been a devastating day,” said Danielle Kapp Cohen, a freelance writer and editor in East Cobb, who has made it her mission to support Yahalomi’s family. I wrote about Cohen’s efforts in this space last April. Through her mother’s sister, who made Aliyah 60 years ago, Cohen has three first cousins in Israel.
Trump’s Jewish Report Card: Delight & Distress

Feb 26, 2025 | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

In the month since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, he has disrupted — to the delight of supporters and the distress of opponents — how the U.S. government functions, at home and abroad. Within the torrent of executive orders that Trump has signed since Jan. 20 and the policies executed at his direction are issues of intense interest to various segments of Atlanta’s Jewish community.
I’m Happy & Relieved for My Extended Family

Feb 26, 2025 | atlantajewishtimes.com | Dave Schechter

This column was always going to break in one of two ways. Which way was uncertain until Feb. 22, when Tal Shoham came home. After 505 days as a hostage in Gaza, Tal returned to Israel, to his wife and two young children, and to an extended family whose lives have been on hold since Oct. 7, 2023.