Columnist Mike Kelly joins Rabbi Ed Bernstein in a two-part series in which they reflect on the 25th anniversary of the death of Americans Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker in a terrorist bus bombing in Israel.
On February 25, 1996, a terrorist suicide bomber detonated himself on the No. 18 bus in Jerusalem, killing 26 innocent people, including Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker. Their loss devastated everyone who knew them, and the attack that took their lives had geopolitical ripple effects that are evident still today. The personal example of Matt and Sara continues to inspire those who knew them.
In this special two-part series of My Teacher Podcast, Rabbi Ed Bernstein is joined in conversation by Mike Kelly, an award-winning journalist and columnist for The (Bergen) Record of New Jersey and the USA Today Network, who did extensive reporting on this attack. In Episode 11, Ed interviewed Mike on the arc of his career and his reporting on this story that led to his acclaimed book, The Bus on Jaffa Road. In this work, Mike chronicles a single act of terrorism and what happened as the American families of the victims attempted to seek justice through U.S. courts. The book, which was published in 2014, has been described by reviewers as “destined to become a literary classic”, “non-fiction at its very best” and a “masterpiece” that “goes deep below the rhetoric on the ‘war on terror’.”
In this episode, Mike interviews Ed on his relationship with Matt and Sara and their legacy as recorded in part in the book that Ed edited: Love Finer Than Wine: The Writings of Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker. The book was recognized as a 2016 National Jewish Book Awards Finalist in the category of anthologies and collections. It received coverage in various publications including The Forward, Florida Sun-Sentinel, The Jewish Ledger of West Hartford and the Cleveland Jewish News. Here's a photo of Ed editing the JTS Memorial Volume that would eventually become Love Finer Than Wine.
Mike Kelly is the author of many prize-winning projects and columns. Prior to The Bus on Jaffa Road, he wrote two other non-fiction books. His first book, Color Lines: The Troubled Dreams of Racial Harmony in an American Town, published in 1995, tells the story of one town’s struggles to achieve racial harmony after a white police officer shot and killed an African-American teenager. The Washington Post called the book “American journalism at its best.”
His second book, Fresh Jersey: Stories from an Altered State, a collection of his columns about New Jersey, published in 2000, was described as “wonderful, touching, funny, perceptive” by best-selling novelist Mary Higgins Clark.
Mike Kelly’s newspaper journalism has taken him to homeless colonies, drug dens, prisons and courtrooms as well as assignments in Iraq, Africa, Cuba, Malaysia, Israel (including the West Bank and Gaza) and Northern Ireland. He has covered many major stories, including the 9/11 attacks, the Clinton impeachment, Hurricane Katrina and the Bridgegate scandal. He has provided analysis for NPR and major TV news programs. He lives in Teaneck, NJ. For more on Mike Kelly, visit www.mikekellywriter.com and follow him on Twitter @MikeKellyColumn.
For questions and comments, email Rabbi Ed Bernstein at myteacherpodcast@gmail.com.
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