Ordinary Jews. Talking. Episode Five: Ilsa Pinkson-Burke & Briane Pinkson

Episode 5: Ilsa Pinkson-Burke & Briane Pinkson  – Recorded August 6, 2025  Courtesy Photo: Briane on the left, Ilsa on the rightIlsa Pinkson-Burke and Briane Pinkson grew up going to “shula”, a Cooperative Jewish Children’s School teaching Jewish history, ethics, art, music, and politics – everything except Hebrew, liturgy, or religion. The school was in the tradition of their parents and grandparents, Yiddish-speaking “left-wingers from the twenties and thirties”. Most weekends they all went to political demonstrations, and once – once – they made a field trip to a synagogue. Today, both sisters feel a need to reinforce their sense of Jewish community and to learn more about the history of Israel, while distancing themselves from Zionism.  Episode 5 Notes: Rabbi Dov Taylor leads Chavurat ki-tov and can be reached at [email protected]  Jewish Voice for Peace, New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter: “We envision a world where all people — from the U.S. to Palestine — live in freedom, justice, equality, and dignity.”Letters:A Letter from Over a Thousand Rabbis Worldwide Organizational responses to the suffering and starvation in Gaza:Statement from the Reform MovementStatement from the Conservative Rabbinical AssemblyStatement from 80 Orthodox Rabbis (unlike the other statements, this one was international and signed by individuals)Israeli military and security leaders strongly denounce government-directed military action in Gaza, demand an end to pointless death and destruction, and a deal to return the hostagesArtists and intellectuals: much reporting on statements, overt or covert boycotts, and reactions from within Israel. Hard to trace back to the statements by artists and intellectuals. Camp Kinderland “Summer camp with a conscience since 1923”