(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Last week, the Somerville Times published the commentary, “Who is a good jew?” In the commentary, a Somerville resident defended the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as essential to combating antisemitism and criticized the National Education Association’s (NEA) decision to cut ties with the ADL. While the author’s personal experiences of antisemitism are valid and critical for all to hear, the author misses the mark in his defense of a powerful organization like the ADL. Jewish safety doesn’t come from gatekeeping or aligning with power; it comes from solidarity.

For some, it’s a clear-cut case of following the law or breaking the law. For others, human compassion overrides these concerns, and there seems to be no other way than to aid and protect those who are in the most need of help.

The sanctuary city issue has come to a head with the federal government’s new policy of these cities going along with its mass deportation efforts or else lose federal funding.

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On a recent trip to Kauai, Hawaii, I purposely ventured out to try some traditional dishes of Hawaii.

My first stop was Pono Market in Kapaa. The market was a busy little hole in the wall packed with assorted drinks, and other premade, quick grab and go items. They also gave the option of combination plates which included a variety of main dishes like, fried chicken, kalua pork, chicken curry, pork lau lau, chicken lau lau, teri meatloaf, and side dishes like different types of poke, Korean tako, spicy ahi, Shoyu ahi, rice, potato mac salad, cucumber kimchee, and rice pudding, just to name a few.

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A Handpicked Poem

By Off the Shelf Correspondent Michael Todd Steffen

Who the heck is Ralph Branca? Well, as baseball fans (and there are poets among this group) may know, Branca was a not bad, not bad at all pitcher in the Major Leagues between 1944 and 1956, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Detroit Tigers, and finally with the New York Yankees. The specific moment of Branca’s career that still registers with us is that he gave up the game-winning homerun to Bobby Thompson of the New York Giants in a 1951 playoff game, and that hit became known as The Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff, and also as The Shot Heard Around the World.

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Bhuwan Thapaliya is a poet from Kathmandu, Nepal. He is the author of five poetry collections, including Safa Tempo: Poems New and Selected (Nirala Publications, New Delhi) and Slipping into Another World (Ukiyoto Publishing). His work has received international recognition, appearing in esteemed literary journals and global anthologies. His poetry has been featured in Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic Initiative – a project supported by the Poetic Media Lab and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University– as well as in the International Human Rights Art Festival and Poetry and Covid, an initiative funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council in collaboration with the University of Plymouth and Nottingham Trent University. He has read his work and participated in literary seminars across South Korea, India, the United States, Thailand, Cambodia, and Nepal.

Union Comedy is thrilled to debut MISHMASH: an improvised musical, a bold, charming, and hilarious fully-improvised show for all ages.

State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine and Massachusetts Firefighting Academy leadership today announced the graduation of 18 firefighters from the 50-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training Program.