A community’s sacred texts shed light on its beliefs and values. This is obvious when it comes to liturgy.
Hence the uproar, last year, over the pope’s reinstitution of the Latin Mass, and its prayer for the conversion of the Jews.
Of course, the principle is true when it comes to Jewish liturgy as well.
The inclusion of […]

-Diverse analysis on the increasingly urgent issue of whether and how Israel should invade Gaza:

International Herald Tribune

Bernard Avishai Dot Com

-A ballistic expert says that Sderot should be protected by an American anti-missile system called Phalanx. (Haaretz)
-It turns out that the Iron Dome defense system cannot defend Sderot from Kassams launched from Beit Hanun in Gaza. […]

-David Kimche makes the case for Tzipi Livni taking over leadership of Israel. (The Jerusalem Post)
-Nehemia Shtrasler argues that Israel’s budget situation is becoming chaotic, with no controls at all on spending proposals. (Haaretz)
-In reviewing 6 books related to Zionism, Geoffrey Wheatcroft makes the case that “Israel today has the purest Jabotinskian government […]

In this installment of “From the Academy,” Dr. Joel Hecker, Chair of the Department of Modern Jewish Civilization and Associate Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, tells us about some of his recent research and academic work.
In a recent article, “Kissing Kabbalists: Hierarchy, Reciprocity, Equality,” I studied the act of […]

From the Jerusalem Post:
A Haifa chocolate factory became the unlikely scene of a midnight heist when robbers broke in and made away with 100 tons of kosher for Pesach chocolate spread. (MORE)

-A look at 32 year old Rabbi Adam Chalom, the new leader of Humanistic Judaism. The Society for Humanistic Judaism claims 10,000 members in 30 congregations. (Chicago Tribune)
-Rabbi Chalom makes the case for Humanistic Judaism (10 minute sound file). (NPR)
-Joseph Chuman’s evaluation of which has more “staying power,” religion or ethnicity, leads him to a […]

Today, we’re reminded that — amazingly — former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is still alive, still in a coma after suffering a stroke two years ago.
Today is his 80th birthday.
Unless, it’s tomorrow. The MJL article on Sharon lists his birthday as February 27, as does Wikipedia and Jewish Virtual Library.
When Sharon suffered his stroke, […]

It was bad enough when Dunkin’ Dount became the country’s largest seller of bagels. But now Kraft has to go and ruin the quintessential secular Jewish food. The food giant is going to begin selling bagels prefilled with cream cheese.
Ewww. (MORE)

TMZ’s posted an entertaining video about former Israeli soldiers using their skills to protect the likes of Britney Spears and Nicole Richie.
The clip focuses on one firm IMS Security, which advertises itself as “Specializing in building custom security protection and anti-terrorist training programs for public figures, private entities and government agencies looking for a higher […]

It seems we Jews are not alone. The unaffiliated are everywhere!!! From the NY Times:
More than 16 percent of American adults say they are not part of any organized faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth largest “religious group.”
MORE…