Evergreen

An overview of autopsy, organ donation, and cremation in Jewish tradition and practice.

On the Jewish custom of leaving a written spiritual legacy for one's children.

Isaac and Rebecca provide us with two models of parenting--love dependent on a specific interaction and love that is unconditional.

God and Abram's covenant between the pieces raises issues of conditionality and obligation still relevant today.

The first chapter of the biblical book of Ezekiel served as the textual starting point for the merkavah mystics—and hints at an image of God.

Few post-talmudic works have been as revered as the Zohar, the mystical commentary on the Torah.

The Hasidim wrote and told stories about their leaders.

Some traditional Jewish authorities condemn homosexuality, while advocating compassion for individual gays and lesbians.

The Torah does not address lesbianism, but later rabbinic commentators frowned upon it.

While the Torah does not forbid premarital sex, the rabbis of the talmudic era prohibited it--but one modern authority proposed a sanctioned form of exclusive sexual relationship outside of marriage.