Sharing by Command, Sharing by Choice
Parashat Tzav (Leviticus 6:1-7:37) continues the instructions to Aaron and his sons concerning different types of sacrifice. We hear of the olah, burnt offering; the minchah, meal offering; and the chatat, sin offering.
Yehuda: A Poem
"That land there", he points,
"That was Jesse's."
We look and I consider
the bramble imprisoned by razor wire
and the story:
a day of hard words over cotton prices
followed by a night
filled with the sound of slaughtered pigs
and my great grandfather
A "Reform" School for Jewish Boys
Today the Union for Reform Judaism is engaged in a variety of activities that include the Religious Action Center, camping, and
How 250 Jewish Teens Are Changing the Face of Youth Engagement
The inaugural Dana Gershon and Rabbi Jonah Pesner Northeast Leadership Summit focused on creating a new and innovative structure to enable Jewish teens to find their purpose and bring it to life.
Does Don Draper Want to Be Jewish?
In the weeks before the beginning of the final season of Mad Men, the show’s creator Matthew Weiner did rounds
The House by the Lake: One House, Five Families, and a Hundred Years of German History
On the outskirts of Berlin lies the charming lakefront community of Groß Glienicke, where locals and summer visitors enjoy swimming, boating and fishing. Nestled among the medieval village’s structures is the lake house where author Thomas Harding’s grandmother once lived.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Haazinu: Between a Rock and Hard Place
Parashat Haazinu includes the word tzur, or rock, eight times. But in this case, tzur isn’t referring to just any rock; it’s referring to God, as the rock of Israel.
Remembering Leonard Nimoy: A Rabbi's Eulogy
[Author's note: What follows is a portion of my eulogy at Leonard’s funeral on Sunday morning, March 1. He was married to my dear first cousin, Susan.]
Being Holy - and Staying Alive
Acharei Mot, the first of this week's two parashiyot, begins on an unsettling note—a reminder of the death of Aaron's sons and the suggestion that such tragedies might occur again unless the priests take specified steps to prevent them
Treyf: My Life as an Unorthodox Outlaw
In her memoir, Treyf: My Life as an Unorthodox Outlaw (New American Library), food writer Elissa Altman, who also wrote Poor Man’s Feast, deftly uses kashrut – Judaism’s dietary laws – to portray, both literally and symbolically, the toxic relationships in her dysfunctional Jewish family.