Perhaps more than any time in history, American Jews are free to define our own Jewish identity and how we choose to express it in words, action, or inaction. But for many of us, freedom of choice doesn’t make being Jewish any easier; in fact, individual autonomy can make it more challenging to articulate. When was the last time you tried to explain to someone – another Jew or someone of another faith – what it means to be a Jew on the eve of 2019? 

Robert H. Mnookin, a Harvard law professor and conflict resolution expert, takes up this challenge in ...

The mitzvah (commandment) of bikur cholim, visiting the sick, is said to have originated with the Holy One of Blessing. When God visits Abraham by the oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, it’s understood to mean not just the literal heat of afternoon, but also the internal heat of fever. God visits Abraham as Abraham is recovering from his circumcision. In visiting the sick, we emulate God.

Another teaching, this one from the Gemara, holds that the Shechinah – the immanent indwelling divine Presence – hovers over the head of the sickbed like a mother bird protecting her young. God...