Writing in The Independent about Shalom Auslander’s Foreskin’s Lament, reviewer William Sutcliffe notes:
If there is a defining thread that runs through Jewish-American literature it is in the ability of writers such as Bellow, Heller and Roth, and other less familiar names such as Alan Isler and Elinor Lipman, to intermingle pain and humour seamlessly. When […]

-A report on Conservative Judaism’s annual Rabbinical Assembly convention, which had the theme “Religion in the Public Square.” (Washington Jewish Week)
-A look at Erica Lippitz, one of the Conservative Movement’s first two cantors. (NJ Jewish News)
-Masorti leaders talk about the difficulties of luring Israelis to non-Orthodox Judaism, and the lack of a level playing field […]

Good news for those synagogues who host Super Bowl-watching parties. The NFL reversed a previous ruling that prohibited houses of worship from showing the game on screens larger than 55 inches. This was due in part to complaints filed with the NFL by members of Congress. (MORE)

It seems the campaign to paint Barack Obama as a candidate that’s bad for the Jews/Israel is not over. I got an email today urging me to forward Marc Zell’s anti-Obama editorial in today’s Jerusalem Post.
This despite the well-publicized conference call with Jewish reporters a few weeks back, in which he tried to respond to […]

Last night I was at the grocery store, stocking up before the snow storm hit New York.
I saw multiple signs advertising kosher for Passover food, as well as Passover specials.
What’s going on? Are stores so used to ordering Passover and Easter food together that they didn’t check the calendars? Due to the Jewish leap year, […]

-JDate is now offering “a bulk rate to rabbis who want to buy membership accounts for congregants.” But singles gotta sign themselves up: “No mothers, no grandmothers.” (Daily Herald)
-Lilith Magazine looks at whether online dating systems such as JDate are good or bad for Jewish women.
-Shmuley Boteach argues, “Curing the singles scene is one of […]

On April 6th, the Orthodox Union will be hosting an event called “Meet Emerging Jewish Communities” in New York. They will promote 12 growing Jewish communities from around North America and provide information about synagogues, day schools, and yeshivot; kosher stores and other Jewish communal resources; job opportunities and affordable housing; and “Torah atmosphere […]

-Former Harvard University president Neil Rudenstine argues that the only real solution for Israel’s universities is private philanthropy. (The Jerusalem Post)
-Children who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union outperformed their Israeli-born counterparts in high-school matriculation and college admission requirements. (Haaretz)
-A look at the first woman to be a principal of an Arab High […]

Za’atar, a spice blend popular throughout the Middle East, is ideally a blend of hyssop, sumac, sesame seeds, salt, and other seasonings. Jewish food historian and cookbook author Gil Marks notes that hyssop appears frequently in the Bible, playing an especially prominent role in the Passover story, where Jews were instructed to add hyssop to […]

I was looking for an article on Jewish customs, minhagim, on MyJewishLearning and, lo and behold, there wasn’t one. Which got me thinking: Does the concept of minhag exist in liberal Judaism?
Let me explain.
In traditional Judaism, there are two types of ritual norms: those that are mandated by Jewish law (halakha) and those that are […]