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Welcome The Stranger

by | Apr 18, 2025 10:23 am | Comments (0)

Paul Bass Photo

Rabbi Herb Brockman.

“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.

(Opinion) It was on a cold morning in Sept 2015 that Alan Kurdi’s body washed ashore on a beach in Turkey. Along with his parents and older brother, they were fleeing the violence in their native Syria. Their rubber raft was bound for a ​“safe harbor” on a Greek island. The boat capsized. Alan and his brother and mother drowned.

The image of a 2‑year-old lying in the sand was captured by a Turkish photographer and was sent around the world. People opened their hearts when they saw the suffering in that image. All these years it never left me.

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Faith Matters: Freedom Struggles & Holy Week

by | Apr 17, 2025 10:05 am | Comments (2)

Rev. Allie Perry.

“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.

(Opinion) While the dates for Passover and Easter vary from year to year, this year they converge. 

The eight days of Passover in the Jewish calendar are almost a complete overlay of the seven days of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter, in the Christian calendar. Dates are not the only commonality, however. 

More significantly, both these religious observances memorialize sacred stories of freedom struggles and resistance to oppressive empires.

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Reviewing Myself In "Mud Follies"

by | Apr 16, 2025 3:59 pm | Comments (4)

Rick Allen photo

That's me, honoring the aphorism: "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."

Last Thursday night, I took a seat in a makeshift theater — the community room of the Unitarian Society of New Haven — awaiting the introduction of Act 6 of an annual talent show, ​“Mud Follies.”

Not that I wasn’t paying attention to Acts 1 through 5. Indeed, I was impressed by the performances.

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Oy Canada: Three Yale Profs Pack Their Bags

by | Mar 28, 2025 2:34 pm | Comments (15)

Snyder, Shore, and Stanley: Heading north.

In late February, I took a seat at the extended table of a Hamden scholar who hosted a group of locals: donors to the annual LEAP fundraiser. And, along with about 20 others present, I got an earful — as well as several mouthfuls of savory poached salmon.

The featured guest that night was Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor at Yale and author of prominent books that illustrate the way fascism and authoritarianism have proliferated in recent times.

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Faith Matters: Gaza & Ramadan

by | Mar 26, 2025 10:01 am | Comments (13)

contributed photo

Prophet's Mosque in Medina.

“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.

(Opinion) The Qur’an, which was revealed during Ramadan in the sixth century to Prophet Muhammad, is read daily to remind Muslims not only of their commitment to God and His commands but also their commitment to the lives of all living beings.

Since he is mentioned more than any other prophet throughout the Qur’an, Prophet Moses’ life is described in detail throughout the holy text.

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The Cost Of VA Budget Cuts

by | Mar 24, 2025 9:36 am | Comments (7)

Allan Appel file photo

At a recent Veterans Day ceremony on Long Wharf.

(Opinion) I am a U.S. Army veteran, and I am anxious. 

Like many others, I signed up to serve a country that promised to care for its veterans. Now, we are watching the Trump administration systematically dismantle the VA, stripping away the very services that keep us alive.

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The Scary Music Of Hope

by | Mar 18, 2025 1:38 pm | Comments (0)

Karen Almond / Met Opera

Lise Davidsen as Fidelio, the courageous wife in disguise and role model for standing up to autocrats.

On our drive on toward Milford and the Connecticut Post Mall, I fiddled with the car radio, turning off the drumbeat of distressing news out of the nation’s capital. 

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Calling All Governors To Wilbur Cross Reunion

by | Mar 13, 2025 10:23 am | Comments (1)

Maya McFadden File Photo

Then-sophomores Charlotte Herzog, Alma Barjamovic, and Maya Harpaz-Levi at the start of the 2023 school year.

Every single person who ever attended Wilbur Cross will be there. 

Well, that’s the idea anyhow. 

For the first time ever, alumni from every generation of Wilbur Cross will be gathering for the ultimate reunion. 

On Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., the school is opening the doors for the ​“Reunion in the Halls.” It’s free and it’s open to everyone — graduates of all years, all ages, and all generations. In truth, this is more than just a reunion or a chance to relive some old memories; it’s a moment to reaffirm our commitment to the city’s largest high school, even as the very idea of public education teeters on the brink.

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Faith (Still) Matters

by | Mar 11, 2025 2:00 pm | Comments (3)

Note: This is the first installment in a ​“Faith Matters” column that will include pieces written by local clergy.

(Opinion) – I’ve been contributing to the New Haven Register’s Faith Matters column for over a decade. I have to admit that it came as a great disappointment to me that a decision had been made to discontinue the column. 

I have always viewed Faith Matters as a pleasant light in a world filled with far too much bad, sad, and mad news. I was honored to be among its contributors. The decision to snuff that light happened to occur just as it was my turn to submit another column. Twice in the dozen or so years I’ve been contributing, the due date snuck up on me and I found myself having to produce a column in a matter of hours. The first time I got a friendly ​“where’s your column?” phone call, I was driving. I pulled over, said a prayer and began to write. It was a very decent piece if I do say so myself. No one can tell me that faith doesn’t matter. God helped me get it done!

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End Of An Era At IRIS

by | Mar 10, 2025 4:30 pm | Comments (26)

Contributed Photo

Lady Liberty sheds a tear: Former director Chris George (second from right) with the crew at Nicoll Street HQ before the dawn of a new era.

(Opinion) IRIS’s former director reflects on the ​“small-scale Ellis Island” that was 235 Nicoll St., as the storied refugee resettlement agency plans to leave its longtime East Rock office amid federal funding cuts.

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A Lifetime In Ten Campus Minutes

by | Feb 12, 2025 1:57 pm | Comments (1)

The two of us as college showbiz big shots.

1:20 p.m. From one of the 149 seats in room 101 of Linsly Chittenden Hall on Yale’s old campus, I watch as students arrive a few minutes early for class. Two of them, standing near the lectern, begin an animated conversation. This sparks a memory, and a curiosity. Will these two know each other 60 years from now? Will they, in their dotage, recall taking Daily Themes, a course in the English Department dating back to 1907? More importantly, will they rely on each other through the years for kindness and mutual support?

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Opinion: The Case For Sanctuary Cities

by | Jan 23, 2025 3:14 pm | Comments (8)

Laura Glesby file photo

Inauguration Day protest outside City Hall.

(Opinion) Local government is at the center of a contentious national conversation about immigration.

Many cities across the United States, including New Haven, have adopted sanctuary policies, limiting the role of local law enforcement in federal immigration policy. These orders are not just acts of political defiance; they are deeply rooted in constitutional principles, practical governance and the need to build trust between local authorities and the communities they serve.

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