A Look at Jewish Life Lately in Shanghai, China
Kehilat Shanghai is always hosting exciting programming for their community and would like to invite you to join whenever you are nearby Shanghai.
Hockey, Family, and Greed
It’s winter in Michigan. The cold weather has moved in, and sports traditions are firmly in place. The Detroit Lions are terrible (they set the NFL’s only negative perfect record of 0-16 in 2008). The Pistons will make the playoffs and lose in the first round.
Early Hanukkah in 2013: Jewish Calendar Fun
Whenever I'm asked if the Jewish holidays are coming early or late this year, I promptly answer that they'll be coming on time. And that's partially true. Rosh Hashanah will always arrive on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei just as Hanukkah will always begin on the 25th of Kislev.
The Family Secret That Made Me a Proponent for Choice
After my mother died, I wondered if she’d ever visited her mother’s grave. Then again, my grandmother’s death was not routine.
A Tu BiShvat Seder Guide for Kids
Memory and Justice: Committing to Freedom as Jews Who Remember
This post is adapted from a sermon given at Temple B'nai Shalom in Fairfax Station, Virginia on January 12, 2018. Watch the full sermon.
Listening for the Voice of Homelessness
While most readers of the Torah consider Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac as his most troubling deed, his treatment of his firstborn son, Ishmael and Ishmael’s mother, Hagar, is also deeply disturbing.
The Challenge of Righteousness
The wording of the verse gives rise to this debate. The text states that “Noah was a righteous man,” but immediately follows with the phrase “in his generation, he was above reproach. . . ” All of us, including the ancient Rabbis, are left to wonder if Noah is exceptional or not, if his righteousness would be universally righteous or simply righteous in his time.
Roots and Branches of the New Year of the Trees
In college, being outdoors and celebrating the natural world was an important part of my spirituality, so I sought out hints that other Jews felt the same way.