Study
Should We Really Label Our Children? Yes…Sometimes.
I’ve always been troubled by the “four children” in the Haggadah.Passover is supposed to teach our children about how we ...
A Dog at the Seder
As a child, the great Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas noticed that dogs appear in Torah at a crucial moment. On ...
Asking the Wrong Questions
Earlier this week, my excellent colleague, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz asked the important question of whether, “there can be a new ...
Children’s Passover Books
Passover is a time for storytelling. One of the main purposes of the holiday is to allow one generation to ...
What Does “Dayenu” Mean Today?
One of my favorite parts of the Passover seder is the singing that takes place after we finish eating. There are so ...
“Is the Lord Present Among Us or Not?”
The state of public discourse, both within the Jewish community and within our society at large, has taken rather a ...
Two Mississippi Rabbis Will Shave for the Brave
My Mississippi rabbinical colleague Rabbi Debra Kassoff and myself will both be making a bold statement this spring; more accurately, ...
An Old Shul Still Paving the Way
It is funny to celebrate the 120th anniversary of our synagogue when Judaism tells us that 120 years should mark ...
From Isolation to Community: Opening the Conversation on Mikvah
Two weeks each month, I refrain from physical intimacy with my husband because of Jewish law. It is not only ...
Jews Don’t Celebrate Christmas (Except in Prison in the Islam Republic of Iran)
In Iranian prison I didn’t hear the anti-Semitism that I anticipated. For months, I feared revealing my religion to guards. ...
Reading Esther and Coming of Age
The story of Esther teaches us many things, amongst them, that timing is everything.This year, the women’s Megillat Esther reading ...
A New Purim Hero?
This year on Purim, several minyanim in the U.S. and in Israel will be reading the Megillah with a twist. ...