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I escaped a winter blast outside to watch a few episodes of the Israeli television series, Shtisel, now available on Netflix.
While I was in Israel as part of the 2018 Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) Wilkenfeld International Women’s Leadership Seminar, a group from ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) was...
Last week was a bad week for Israel and the Jews, a week in which the worst instincts of our brethren were enabled and acted upon
Why is it so important, and what is its impact on Jews who don’t live in Israel? We break down the new law, its meaning, and its potential impact.
I was making my way outside of the Kotel with four other college students when a group of about 50 Haredim started following us through the streets. Quickly, things turned violent
My first Yiddish lesson in Israel did not go well - but an unlikely friendship with Yisroel, a Haredi restaurateur, saved the day.
The Forward's "Rabbis Riundtable" series asked 25 rabbis of all denominations to answer this difficult question. Here's how the Reform rabbis on the list respoded.
The Forward asked 17 rabbis, "What is the biggest threat facing the Jewish people today?” Here's what the three Reform-affiliated rabbis on the list had to say
After the ceremony, Israeli after Israeli came to me to say, "So this is what Progressive Judaism looks like? How do I learn more?"
Recently, Israel’s prime minister reneged on an agreement for an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel. In the aftermath, what can we learn from the Talmud?
My mixed impressions about Rosh Chodesh Adar will still take some time to settle, but I feel enriched and empowered knowing that each small step is meaningful in the ongoing struggle for all Jews...
You might not know it, but if you stay at a hotel while visiting Israel, about 10% of your bill goes to certify that the food and facilities are kosher in the eyes of the state-sponsored, ultra...
In representing the brave religious women of Beit Shemesh, we did a lot more than remove modesty signs from their town. We now have a legal precedent that can expedite the removal of similar signs...
There were 14 Torah scrolls and hundreds of committed Jews standing with one goal: to hold an egalitarian service at the Kotel.
Together, my travel group and I visited Greenwood, MS, where the community at Ahavath Rayim, formerly an Orthodox synagogue, hosted us for Shabbat services. Just as we came from different places...
It troubles me that I live in a socially segregated community, so when my professor announced that he would be co-teaching with a Protestant preacher and a Muslim imam a week-long summer intensive...
Reform and Conservative Jewish leaders in North America and Israel are speaking out to tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will not stand for unequal treatment under Israeli law.
As a queer Jew, the solidarity I seek from other Jews is not simply ignoring the passages of Torah that are used to discriminate against LGBTQ people. I seek recognition that homophobia and...
My love and reverence for my father grew stronger, paradoxically, the more I departed from the details of his teachings. Why? Because it was my father, a learned Orthodox Jew, who set me out on the...
The Israeli government promised to come up with a plan for the Kotel deal's implementation by June 1st – but promises yielded to political pressure and procrastination. All the while,...
Rabbi Dovi and Esty Scheiner were married on September 11, 2001 in New York. As Rabbi Scheiner writes, “We monitored the forecast out of concern for falling showers, but nothing could have prepared...
While my daughter, Mimi, was walking in a Brooklyn mall recently, pushing her baby in the stroller, she was approached by a modestly dressed girl of about 12 years old. Speaking with a slight...
Recently, I coordinated the third annual Mah Jongg tournament here in Modi’in, Israel, where I live. The event was sponsored by the Modi’in Mahj Mavens, the group of six women with whom I play...
This is a prayer for Jews to love one another. I wrote it a year ago, but it echoes as a response to the violence perpetrated at the Kotel this week. Charlie Kalech and I were beaten after we...
In the riveting courtroom drama Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, the titular character is not the only one on trial. Viviane Amsalem’s husband Elisha, the actual defendant, has been called...
Someone new recently joined my weekly atheist meet-up group, so the subject came up again: What was your former religion? When and why did you stop believing?
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I recently returned from fulfilling my life dream of visiting the Galapagos Islands and following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin.
I hear a great many people say “I am not religious” when what they actually mean is, “I am not observant.” What is the difference between the two?
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The gathering in 1986 in Dag Hammaarskjold Plaza is still firmly etched in my memory. Hundreds of thousands of people had marched down Fifth Avenue cheering, shouting, singing and weeping on behalf...
The world is filled with certainties that aren’t – like the myth that religious denominations are dead. We will eventually have three inchoate pools of people, it is said: Orthodox, “Other,” and...
This past weekend, between all of our friendly banter, there were three current event topics that dominated our Shabbat table conversation - the passing of Debbie Friedman, the gun control debate,...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)The bare fact...that simple and unsophisticated peoples have unbounded faith in education does not mean that the...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Rabbi Abba said in the name of Samuel: for three years the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel were in...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him. ...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)May it by Your will, our God and God of our ancestors, that You lead us and guide our steps in peace...and bring us...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Esther did not reveal her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had told hernot to reveal it.-Esther 2:10 At a recent...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I did not know it!" Shaken, he...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)One should never occupy oneself with the legends and midrashim relating to the messianic age, and should not...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the ensign to gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners...
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...
by Marc Rosenstein
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(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Ben Bag-Bag says: Turn [the Torah] over and turn it over, for everything is in it. -Mishnah, Avot 5:22I just returned from Limmud...
When my husband and I visited Vienna several times in the 1990s, the gemeinde (official Jewish community) would not publish the schedule of services at the Progressive Congregation Or Chadasch in...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)I have indeed removed them far among nations and have scattered them among thecountries and I have become to them a...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Joshua ben Perachiah says: Make yourself a teacher (rabbi) and get yourself a colleague (friend) and judge every...
One of my favorite activities to bring to a classroom of elementary school-aged religious school students is a deceptively simple art project: "Draw a Jew." Easy, no? In fact, I encourage you to do...
Jewish women for almost five thousand seven hundred seventy years have struggled with a tradition that moved them into a life of modesty, early marriage and motherhood. Formal education was...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)Since its earliest days, Reform Judaism has asserted that a Judaism frozen in time is an heirloom, not a living...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)Rabbi Abba said in the name of Samuel: for three years the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel were in...
