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Do Your Tzedakah Priorities Reflect Your Values?
People want our tzedakah dollars. We are all deluged by solicitations, whether through phone calls, online requests, mailed letters, or ...
An Interview with Luzer Twersky: From Ultra-Orthodox to “Transparent” Star
Luzer Twersky is an actor who plays Mendel in Season Two of Amazon’s hit television show “Transparent.” He grew up ...
My Jewish Son’s Love of Christmas
My wife and I are a multiracial couple. She’s Black. I’m White. Our 4-year-old son is biracial.My wife grew up ...
Taking Sides on Hanukkah
I often wonder what group I would have belonged to when people were being asked to stand up and be ...
#HumansofJOFA
In honor of our 18th anniversary tribute dinner, we launched the photography campaign #HumansofJOFA. Modeled on the famous (and oft-replicated) ...
Hanukkah is Coming: Don’t Let the Light Go Out
I have always found it difficult to romanticize the tale of right and might that belongs to the Maccabees. I ...
Mark Zuckerberg’s Letter to His Daughter
No matter how much money each of us donated yesterday on what has come to be known as Giving Tuesday, ...
Remembering on World AIDS Day
The AIDS epidemic began slowly, but one by one, members of our synagogue, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, as well as many ...
It’s Thanksgiving, But What if One Doesn’t Feel Thankful?
Happy Thanksgiving.Now, let’s get real: Some don’t feel thankful today. We might feel like the turkeys got us down. We might feel burdened ...
Leaving My Ultra-Orthodox Home and Finding My Trans Self: Part Two
Abby Stein grew up in an insular, Hasidic community in Brooklyn. When she realized she wanted a different kind of ...
We Are a Nation of Immigrants
Last night I participated in my town of Westborough’s Interfaith Thanksgiving. Our program was entitled ‘Welcoming the Stranger’, recalling that ...
Leaving My Ultra-Orthodox Home and Finding My Trans Self: Part One
Abby Stein grew up in an insular, Hasidic community in Brooklyn. When she realized she wanted a different kind of ...