Mark Oppenheimer

Mark Oppenheimer is a Senior Editor at Tablet. He hosts the podcast Unorthodox. He has contributed to Slate and Mother Jones, among many other publications. He is the author, most recently, of Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood. He will be hosting a discussion forum about this article on his newsletter, where you can subscribe for free and submit comments.

The Case for Free Jewish Day School
Day schools are getting cheaper. That’s not good enough.
byMark Oppenheimer
The Scene of the Crime
A survivor of the Pittsburgh massacre returns to the synagogue where the shooting took place
byMark Oppenheimer
Nature Versus the Jewish Ladies
I love Roger Deakin’s classic paean to open-water swimming, but I can’t get past his line about Jewish ladies in red jackets with big gold buttons
byMark Oppenheimer
Surprising Trends Driving Conversion to Judaism
It’s not just for marriage anymore
byMark Oppenheimer
The Trouble With ‘Solitude’
William James was wrong: Religion is a highly social affair
byMark Oppenheimer
The Butcher, the Baker, and the Newspaper Seller
A lost documentary captures the old Jewish shopping district of Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill
byMark Oppenheimer
In Pittsburgh, Hard Questions Unsettle a Somber Commemoration
The community’s leaders wanted the ceremony commemorating the Tree of Life massacre to be free of politics and conflict. One rabbi, and many congregants, felt differently.
byMark Oppenheimer
Is There Such a Thing as Mindful Slaughtering?
A New York Times story about vegans turned butchers raises new questions about the ethics of killing and eating animals
byMark Oppenheimer
Rethinking Conversion
Unfortunately, we’ve lost sight of how best to welcome newcomers to Judaism
byMark Oppenheimer
Letter to My Unborn Son
This Father’s Day, one dad contemplates life with four girls and a boy on the way
byMark Oppenheimer
Who Would Joe Lieberman Vote for in 2020? Not Who You’d Think.
On Unorthodox, the former senator opens up about his feelings towards the contemporary Democratic Party
byMark Oppenheimer
Adam Sandler’s New Role Is His Most Daring Yet: Working Class Jew
In the charming comedy ‘The Week Of,’ a reminder that warmth trumps wealth every time
byMark Oppenheimer
Jewish Teacher Fired from Quaker School for Making Nazi Joke
This is what happens when well-meaning philo-Semites and assimilated Jews, the kind of people who run schools like Friends Seminary, have more respect for imagined Jewish sensitivities than for Jews’ actual history and culture
byMark Oppenheimer
Farewell to Russ Solomon, Founder of Tower Records
A good record store, he knew, was like a shul, a place for folks to congregate and seek a little bit of heaven on earth
byMark Oppenheimer
The Political Genius of Ahasuerus
He might’ve been a hedonist and a cad, but the king, rare among leaders, knew how to listen
byMark Oppenheimer
On Roy Moore and His Friends
Is it okay to use the word “Jew”?
byMark Oppenheimer
Watching ‘The Chosen’ with My Children
A new theatrical adaptation of Chaim Potok’s classic novel admires the past without being nostalgic and takes Jews and Judaism seriously
byMark Oppenheimer
An Apology
Regarding yesterday’s Weinstein story
byMark Oppenheimer