Rachel Podhoretz Abrams (née Decter) was born on January 2, 1951, to conservative writer Midge Decter and Moshe Decter, and was the stepdaughter of longtime Commentary editor Norman Podhoretz following her mother's remarriage. She spent her teenage years on Manhattan's Upper West Side and lived for three years on Kibbutz Machanayim in Israel's Galilee region during the 1970s. Forgoing a formal college degree to pursue life experiences, she was praised by her brother John Podhoretz as a brilliant writer and artist with wit comparable to Oscar Wilde. Abrams married diplomat and neoconservative foreign policy expert Elliott Abrams in March 1980. She was a multifaceted talent as a writer, editor, visual artist, sculptor, and blogger, maintaining the politically charged blog "Bad Rachel," which attracted attention and controversy for its acerbic tone and contentious remarks, including a 2011 post about militants involved in the Gilad Shalit case and criticisms noted by outlets such as Lobelog and The Wonk Room. Her writings appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, and The Weekly Standard, often critiquing liberal thinkers and U.S. Middle East policy. Abrams also served on the board of the Emergency Committee for Israel and was described posthumously by Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin as the "heart and soul" of neoconservatism. She battled stomach cancer for three years before passing away on June 7, 2013, at age 62, surrounded by family in Alexandria, Virginia. Tributes celebrated her passions for family, the United States, Israel, the New York Yankees, literature such as Anna Karenina, mystery novels, and the Cooking Channel.