September / october 2006:

A letter from the editor

by Benyamin Cohen

As I type this, I’m sitting on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport. Weather delays have provided me an opportunity with nothing much to do, but power up the laptop and write. Well, at least attempt to.

It’s hard to concentrate on getting work done when I’m eager to go home. I’ve only been away for just a few days and I already miss my dogs. Allow me to back up for a moment. I used to not have dogs. In fact, as a kid, I was deathly afraid of them. I’m not quite sure why; I was never bitten by one and I don’t even recall having a negative experience with any members of the canine persuasion.

So as I grew up, I slowly realized that it was an unreasonable fear with no reasonable basis. To help overcome that fear, I decided to face it head on. I went with a friend to the local shelter and adopted a four-month-old laid back Chow-Retriever mix. We came home, my friend left, and it was just me and the dog. I stood on one side of the room, while he was way over on the opposite end. For a few minutes we just stared at each other, neither one of us knowing what to do. Eventually, I just left him there and went about my business.

As the days and weeks went by we slowly warmed up to each other and bonded over walks, trips to the park, and lazily sitting on the couch watching TV together. That was four years ago this month. I’m now the proud owner of two dogs — I added a cute little pug to our brood on my wedding day. Living with dogs has immeasurably increased the quality of life in our home and I now can’t imagine ever not being a dog owner.

I mention this story not to talk about my dogs (which I love to do), but to make a point about change. Change, as scary as it may at first seem, can be immensely positive. Entering into new territory — whether it’s going off to college, moving to a new town, or becoming a first-time dog owner — are all uncomfortable at first. But, with time, they enhance our lives for the better.

The fall is a season of changes. The leaves start to change color, and new beginnings are around every corner. Well, we’re happy to announce that we have one more change to add to that list. Beginning with this issue, we will be changing the name of our magazine from Atlanta Jewish Life to American Jewish Life.

While it’s definitely a change, I wouldn’t go so far as calling it a whole new frontier. After all, we’ve already been heading down this path for the last 18 months. Call it an evolution. As many of you have noticed, we’ve been evolving into this ever since new owners took over the magazine in January 2005. Each issue has gotten less local and we’ve covered stories and trends of national interest — Jewish celebrity interviews, profiles of quirky members of the tribe, and book reviews and essays which all transcend geographic boundaries. Whether it’s a hot Orthodox supermodel or a former wrestler turned committed Jew, we’ve got you covered in the “Where did they find that?” story department.

But you will find a few small changes with this issue. We’re introducing a new column on the back page called “613 Words” (page 80) where we ask a prominent Jewish American to compose an essay in, you guessed it, 613 words corresponding to the number of commandments in the Bible. And speaking of the Good Book, we’re also unleashing the “30 Second Sermon” (page 20) in this issue. And our logo, while still AJL, has slightly changed fonts for all you geeks out there who may notice.

But, overall, our long-time readers won’t notice much difference at all. We’re still covering Jewish celebs (page 36), introducing you to intriguing people (page 50), and covering books (page 30), music (page 28), food (page 26) and all the Jewish culture in between. Think of us as if Esquire or GQ grew a beard and donned a yarmulke. It’s why we were named “Best Magazine in Atlanta” last year. Now, we have the opportunity to share our publication with the rest of America.

As the Jewish New Year approaches, we look ahead to a season of change and new beginnings. For our readers and advertisers, we hope that this year brings with it joy, success, and a renewed sense of purpose — changes in a positive direction.

Anyway, I better stop typing now. The captain has turned on the seat belt sign. We’re about to take off.

All the best,
Benyamin Cohen

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