A Birthday Card for Israel, My Home
How do you give your country a gift?
What kind of gift will you give your country?
What can you wish to your country?
Hey, That's Not Our Torah Scroll!
Recently at the regular Shabbat minyan at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City, we worshipers were thrown for a bit of a loop when, at the beginning of the Torah service, the rabbi took a scroll from the ark that was different than the one we
I’m a Vegetarian/Vegan. What Adjustments Can I Make to My Seder Plate?
The Passover seder plate traditionally features two items that are not vegetarian or vegan.
The Mystery of the Fifth Cup: Why Elijah?
Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin reveals why, of all our biblical luminaries, it is Elijah who visits our homes on Passover, and why we welcome the prophet to our seder table with his own dedicated cup of wine.
What an Atheist Belgian Musician Taught Me about Judaism
As a teenager, I would sit on my bedroom floor listening to old records of Belgian singer-songwriter, poet, and performer Jacques Brel. I didn’t need to keep a journal, because his lyrics wove together everything I felt at the time. Brel had a fire within, and his anger, longing, passion, and truth blazed through every word he sang. His music, raw and real, transformed and fed my soul; it informed and shaped who I am today.
For Those Whose Exodus Continues Today
For more than 3,000 years, Jews have gathered to retell the story of Passover and celebrate our deliverance from slavery in Egypt. In the Book of Exodus, we are not only told to observe Passover (Exodus 12: 17); we also are taught that, “In every generation all of us are obliged to regard ourselves as if we ourselves went forth from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8). We must not only gather for seder and replace chametz with matzah, but we also must take ownership of the Passover narrative and experience it anew each year.
Women and Gender in the Israeli Reform Haggadah
When two colleagues and I created the Israeli Reform haggadah in 2009, we were well aware of the tension between the significant role of women in the Passover story and the relatively little written about them in the haggadah. Because invisible lines of connection bind seder participants to the history of the Jewish people and to the traditions of individual families, ethnic groups, and their own personal heritage, we felt compelled to make the haggadah gender inclusive and to incorporate the stories of women from throughout Jewish history and today.
How To Talk Politics at Your Family Seder Without Killing Each Other
Should we avoid prickly subjects at the seder? Steer clear of talk about candidates, platforms, policies and anything potentially objectionable for the sake of a happy holiday?