In honor of it being International Women's Day, I'd like to perform a little experiment with you. What first comes to mind when someone asks you to describe an Israeli woman? A tough kibbutznikit? A beauty in army uniform? Golda Meir?

by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)

You shall destroy all the peoples that the Lord your God delivers to you, showing them no pity. And you shall not worship their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

-

Rabbi Stanley M. Davids is the Immediate Past President of ARZA. This post first appeared at RJ.org.

Resa and I returned home to Jerusalem on January 25th. We plunged immediately into what has become a month long period of programs, meetings, encounters and

Rabbi Eric Yoffie is the President of the Union for Reform Judaism. This piece originally appeared in Reform Judaism magazine.

When the history of Reform Judaism is written a century from now, its authors will ask many questions: Did Reform Jews study Torah,

by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)

...Even a poor person who is supported by tzedakah is obligated to contribute tzedakah to others. -Rambam (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, Laws of gifts to the poor 7:5

Recently the

by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)

Who is the mightiest of the mighty? He who conquers his urges... Some say: He who turns his enemy into a friend.
-Avot d'Rabbi Nathan, version A chapter 23

Since leaving the

This weekend, I will be joining NFTYites from across the country at URJ Greene Family Camp for Veida, which is NFTY's yearly business and elections meeting.

by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)

The Council of Progressive (Reform) Rabbis in Israel views the Western Wall as an area that does not represent the Jewish attachment to God, the experience of prayer, or modern

Rarely have I been so disturbed as when I learned that my good friend Naomi Chazan, chairwoman of the New Israel Fund, had become the personal target of a hate campaign launched last week by a group called Im Tirtzu.