From the Editor

Nadine Epstein

Young people are deeply concerned about Darfur. I can see it in their idealistic eyes—which so clearly perceive the world’s problems—and I know they are hungry for ways to make our planet a better place.

My son Noah and other young people I know are deeply concerned about the crisis in Darfur. I can see it in their idealistic eyes—which so clearly perceive the world’s problems—and I know that they are hungry for ways to make our planet a better place.

That’s why Moment challenged high school students in our first-ever essay contest with the question “What Can Be Done to Prevent Genocide?” We knew it was a tough question, with no easy answers, so you can imagine our surprise when essays written by Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Muslim students began pouring in from throughout North America.

We asked kids to be creative and they were. One of our winners, Jen Pimentel, is urging schoolmates to forgo the traditional prom in favor of a “No Prom for Darfur” dance so that they can donate funds usually spent on fancy gowns, tuxes and limousines to savedarfur.org and other organizations. Another winner, Aaron Rosenson, would like to see a “genocide unit” incorporated into high school curricula. Several students suggested organizing international rock concerts to raise awareness and money. Ideas ran from small to big, most with the ultimate strategy of educating students about the conflict so they can pressure our politicians to take action. Many agree that their long-term goal is to become well informed, caring leaders who will be able to make a difference.

Choosing was difficult, but we managed to select three winning essays, which you will find on pages 38 and 39. Finalists’ essays are posted on our web site at momentmag.com. Read them! Once our generation is over the hill, these thoughtful kids will hold the future in their hands.

It is particularly fitting that these essays about how to prevent genocide appear in the same issue as our tribute to Albert Einstein. Were he alive today I think he would be leading the charge to stop ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

Though he died before I was born, Einstein has always been a part of my life, a sort of beloved, eccentric uncle with an expressive face, twinkling eyes and a fondness for padding around in his slippers. As the daughter of a physicist who admires Einstein, I grew up in awe of the brilliant man whose scientific theories ushered in our modern understanding of space and time.

Last year, my Dad walked into the Moment office and asked: “When are you going to do a story about the Jewish Einstein?”

I couldn’t see what Einstein had to do with Judaism beyond his bloodlines, but my father was persistent. And he was right.

Einstein was not only Jewish, he was a great Jew. It’s true that he didn’t believe in a traditional Jewish God who listens and responds to prayers, and it’s true that he derided ritual as a waste of time. But it is also accurate to say that he was a religious man. And, living as he did through two world wars and decades of horrific anti-Semitism, he became a whole-hearted and tireless advocate for the Jewish people. He was convinced that Jewish ethics and love of learning enriched the world, and he encouraged Jews to be proud of their heritage and support Israel. No wonder my Dad is a fan.

Thanks to associate editor Mandy Katz, the complexities of the Jewish Einstein come alive in our April issue, which also abounds with stories about, and by, Jewish women journalists reporting from some of the world’s less hospitable corners. We travel through Afghanistan with Ilene R. Prusher, a long-time correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. While bouncing in a car along that country’s rocky roads, she and her Pashtun interpreter realize they may share a mutual heritage: Are the Pashtun—the people of the Taliban—descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel, as many of them believe?

Also for this issue, we asked veteran Middle East reporter Glenn Frankel to profile his one-time protégé, National Public Radio correspondent Linda Gradstein. Having listened to her calm reporting from Jerusalem for many years, I was delighted to finally “meet” the woman behind the voice. Fluent in Hebrew and Arabic, this religious mother of four manages to balance family life with sensitive and informed coverage of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Then there’s our daring Internet reporter, who travels no farther than the family couch to visit some of America’s leading hate groups online, sampling the vitriol and the merchandise. Be forewarned: What our reporter—who asked to remain anonymous—stumbles upon is not always “family friendly.”

As usual, Moment is packed with enough stories, opinions and reviews to keep you reading—and thinking—for two months. Which leads me to my last point. Several hundred Moment subscribers responded to our readers’ survey in the February issue—and we thank you. We’re still crunching the data but one of the things we’ve learned is that you, our readers, are an amazingly literate crowd. The average Moment subscriber reads 27 books a year! We’d love to know what you’re reading, so don’t be shy, e-mail your favorite titles to editor@momentmag.com.
‘Til June…