David Suissa

California

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)

Publisher and EIC @JewishJournal, speaker, columnist, host of "The David Suissa Podcast."

Articles

A Seder Surprise: Returning to God

1 week ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

There were so many ideas buzzing through my mind before we sat down for the first Seder last Saturday night. After all the bad news we’ve lived through, I thought of a “Seder of good news.” Given that the Seder revolves around stories, I also thought of asking people to share personal stories that have moved them.
Friday Night Shabbat to Saturday Night Passover: From One Seder to the Next

1 week ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

It’s highly unusual for Passover to start on a Saturday night. But it does present an opportunity to reflect on two epic events of the Jewish calendar. The first is the Passover Seder, arguably one of the most popular holidays of our tradition. How can one go wrong with the celebration of freedom, with the epic Jewish story of the Exodus, with an event that revolves around storytelling and using stories to add meaning to our lives?
This Passover, Let’s Liberate Laughter

2 weeks ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

The toughest thing in the world is to make people laugh. It’s easy to share meaningful things, discuss current events, complain about the state of the world, etc., but to purposefully make someone laugh? That don’t come easy. And right now, who even feels like laughing? When we’re inundated with so much serious stuff, laughter is hardly a priority. Making it a priority would mean feeling guilty about ignoring the things that demand our attention. And who wants to feel guilty?
Feeling Guilty About an Amazing Book

2 weeks ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

I couldn’t help feeling a weird sense of guilt as I read Elly Katz’s new book, “From Scientist to Stroke Survivor: Life Redacted.”Elly has spent most of her life struggling with physical pain. In a piece we published in The Journal five years ago, she wrote:“I crafted this autobiographical sketch while braced in a shoulder garment that hugs my right lower rib and shoulder, which dislocate during sleep almost nightly.
Fighting Jew-Hatred with Great Lawyers

3 weeks ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

With the Trump administration escalating its confrontation with U.S. colleges to protect Jewish students from the bullying of pro-Hamas demonstrators, I’m torn between two sentiments. On the one hand, it’s good to see that our government is taking seriously the anti-Jewish onslaught that began on college campuses right after the massacre of Oct. 7. But if the government goes too far and uses “antisemitism” as an excuse to unlawfully kick out agitators, the effort will end up backfiring on the Jews.
Milken Ecosystem: Education for the Jewish Future

4 weeks ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

As I toured the new Aaron Milken Center for Early Child Education last Sunday, an initiative of Stephen Wise Temple, I was hoping not to see too many digital screens. I’ve been engrossed these days in a book (“The Extinction of Experience” by Christine Rosen) that chronicles how the abuse of digital technology is undermining our very humanity. If that is true for the general population, imagine how true it must be for kids who just start out.
David Suissa - Jews Must Invest in Jew-Lovers, Not Jew-Haters

1 month ago | jewishworldreview.com | David Suissa |Byron York

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. (AND NO SPAM!) Just click here. Jew-haters are inversely connected to Jew-lovers. The haters hate us no matter what we do. They hate us, in other words, just because we're Jews. Jew-lovers also love us because we're Jews, but in their case, it's because of what we do. Their view of Jews has been shaped by the good deeds of Jews. How do we make sense of these opposite impulses? Let's start with the haters.
Remembering Eli Fink

1 month ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

Rabbi Eli Fink was one in a million. He was an Orthodox rabbi raised in the black-hat world of Baltimore yeshivas where Talmudic learning is the major source of intellectual nourishment. His deep knowledge of Torah, however, was not what made him one in a million. What made him stand out was a deep and genuine love for popular culture. There was hardly a new show or film he couldn’t discuss at length. But here’s the thing: he didn’t consume entertainment as a means to an end.
Tiny Slivers of Freedom: Watching the First Jews to Escape the Holocaust

1 month ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

For as long as I can remember, the Holocaust has represented for me the complete and utter absence of physical freedom. I’ve seen Holocaust films where Jews fought back, found meaning in the smallest things, tried like hell to maintain some dignity and Jewish customs, used their talents to improve their survival odds, and so on.
Are Defenders of Mahmoud Khalil Ready to Defend Speech they Despise?

1 month ago | jewishjournal.com | David Suissa

Imagine a Nazi sympathizer from Germany living in New York City and studying at Columbia. He’s not a U.S. citizen, but he has a green card. For many months, he has been leading protests on campus with fellow Klan members where he promotes a hateful, racist agenda. After being arrested and targeted for deportation by federal authorities, he becomes a cause celebre among the conservative right. They argue that his free speech rights are being violated.