What's Wrong With Ethnic Jokes?
When I was an undergraduate, I spent a semester abroad in Germany. I was there, of course, to learn German: that was the express purpose of the trip. But I also had felt a need to go there to find out whether Germans were a different kind of people.
What Are the Numbers of Shavuot?
This year, Shavuot starts at sundown on June 3rd. Aside from what happens in synagogue, your home celebrations can take so many forms — decorating with fresh greens and flowers, making special foods, and so much more.
Making Special Foods for Shavuot
Do you love to make special foods for the Jewish holidays? Shavuot (which starts at sundown on June 3rd this year) can really inspire creativity in the kitchen. Or, if you prefer, it can be extremely simple.
For California Students, a Frightening "Debate" About the Holocaust
My mother is a survivor of Auschwitz. She lost her entire family there. The Holocaust is a tragedy that has been a major factor in my life, one that has driven my push for social justice.
Take Two Tablets: A Shavuot Prescription for Displaying the Decalogue
Have you seen the Ten Commandments lately? Not the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille blockbuster, but the Decalogue: the biblical guidelines Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai and a cause for Jewish celebration each year on Shavuot.
This Shavuot, Stand With Ruth
It is customary to read and study the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. Why? A couple of reasons.
Shavuot: Celebrating an Interfaith Torah
In this Scroll is the secret of our people's life from Sinai until now. Its teaching is love and justice, goodness and hope. Freedom is its gift to all who treasure it.
– Mishkan T'filah, the Torah Service
Immigrant Families: Our Modern-Day Strangers
As we count our days to Shavuot, we are ever mindful that we left Egypt as strangers but came to Sinai to fulfill a mission.
I Remember: A Poem for Yom HaShoah
I remember the absence of sound,
deeper than silence
and more lonely,
like the moment just
before Creation,
all stretched and
attenuated, waiting,
except there was no time
to measure
eternity,
so waiting was
Now.