Abigail Klein Leichman

Abigail Klein Leichman is a journalist who made aliya with her family in 2007, following 13 years as a features writer and copy editor at The Record , the daily newspaper of northern New Jersey. She has been freelancing since 1984 for a wide variety of secular and Jewish publications and is a staff writer for ISRAEL21c.

FRIDAY FARE at Piccolino.

Piccolino: Bountiful brunch with a bonus in Jerusalem - restaurant review

Assaf Granit (L) and Elie Wurtman sample their wine in the Bat Shlomo vineyards.

Alef: Tasting the Israeli rosé wine going global with Assaf Granit's push

In her Tel Aviv bookshop.

Aliyah in wartime Israel: Building a new home, opening an English bookstore


Yakov Schacht: How a Ninjutsu coach navigates life in Israel’s war zone

Yakov Schacht finds the mentality behind ninjutsu – which also forms the basis of his Shinobi Leadership Coaching business – invaluable and instructive in these scary times.

YAKOV SCHACHT, business leadership coach.

Perpetual Jewish family traits: Jewish genealogy, history explored by Am haZikaron Institute

Using an exact-sciences approach endorsed by a committee of 55 Nobel laureates, Am haZikaron can reveal the unique characteristics of one’s clan that have been preserved for centuries.

A SECTION of Jonathan Vidgop’s family tree on the walls of the Am haZikaron office in Tel Aviv.

'The Arab Case for Israel': Explaining the conflict between Jews and Arabs - review

The Arab Case for Israel is the book that I would recommend above all others for anyone who sincerely wants to understand the entrenched conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

FEDAYEEN OF the PFLP in mountains east of the Jordan River, early 1969. They carry Soviet and Egyptian weapons.

Simon Betuel: Cosmetics producer by day, artist by night

Influenced by the palettes of Rubens, Klimt, Vrubel, and especially El Greco, Betuel executes deeply Jewish paintings in both figurative and abstract styles.

SIMON BETUEL in his home studio.

Dream Care: This haredi male nurse is helping redefine private nursing care in Israel

After seeing patients fall through the cracks, a haredi nurse set out to reinvent care at home.

Matan Nitzky with assorted Dream Care patients

She moved to Israel during war and this chess champion says she would do it again

Despite all that’s entailed in adjusting to life as a new immigrant, Gara has no regrets.

CHESS CHAMPION Tícia Gara.

Live from the mamad: Laughter is the best medicine amid war

Even comedic masters of timing don’t stand a chance if their set is interrupted by air raid sirens. 

(L TO R) Ana Vincenti, Moe Braun, Martin Winiar, and Hanna Castiel TLV fan Stav Setty.

Be a refusenik: Survival guide for Jewish students facing campus antisemitism

New playbook for Jewish defiance on campus takes a page from Soviet refuseniks.

David Hazony (from L) Natan Sharansky, Rawan Osman, Izabella Tabarovsky, and  Noah Shufutinsky at the January launch event for Be a Refusenik at the Menachem  Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Shmuel Yerish: From teaching in Ukraine to creating Jewish kids' toys in Hadera

Rabbi Shmuel Yerish is grateful that “here in Israel you can live a full Jewish life, without judgment or reproach.”

RABBI SHMUEL YERISH and family in Hadera.

Anchored in the Earth: The theraputic farm helping Israel's combat veterans

Now in its second year, the initiative serves approximately 60 veterans across four cohorts, providing a structured path toward healing and reintegration through farm-based therapeutic work.

IDF VETERANS work the fields as part of Kaima’s Anchored in the Earth therapeutic farming program.