Learning About Judaism From Non-Jews
My husband tells the story about how, some years ago, immediately following the...
The Ancient Jewish Debate About the Nature of Jewishness
Jewish identity is confusing. Are we a religion, nationality, race, ethnicity...
Righting an Injustice
I love when things happen that mimic something in the Bible. It makes the story...
The Essential Call is to Look Forward, Not Back
In a previous blog presentation of mine, Torah Advice on Responding to...
The First and Only Hasidic Female Rabbi
Imagine a woman standing in front of a congregation, tefillin and tallit adorn,...
The Values of “Pleasantness” and “Peacefulness”
Derachecha Darchei Noam On days when the Torah is publicly read, i.e., Shabbat...
What Does Star Wars Have to Do with Finishing a Book of the Torah?
In the seven Star Wars movies the saying, “May the Force be with...
I Don't Understand A Thing!
No thinking person would give a million dollars to a 10 year-old. A child that...
Spot the Difference
During the three weeks, between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av we give...
A New Argument Against Political Holocaust Analogies
Mary and Sarah are good friends. As high school juniors, they are finally...
Is Judaism a Religion?
For those who regularly read my work, the question framed in this title would,...
Let’s Turn Parents’ Day on its Head
As I looked up some holidays I found that July 28th is Parents’ Day. I...
How God Works: A Credit Card Metaphor
First, I want to tell you a small story of something that just happened to us...
The History of Ethiopian Jewry
In the mid-nineteenth century an excited, yet anxious, Jewish community...
THE ORTHODOX JUDAISM OF SH’LOMO AVINER_3
Rabbi Sh’lomo Aviner is a well-known, Religious Zionist thinker whose...
Learning Emunah From A Flight Delay
THE CALM MAN STUCK WITH ME AT THE BURLINGTON AIRPORTby Chana Jenny Weisberg...
Our Amazing Calendar by Marcia Goldlist
Today I received an advertisement for making a personalized Jewish calendar...
Get Refusal Didn’t Cause the Agunah Problem- Halachah Did
Imagine for a moment that you are hired as a lawyer to defend a client in a...
NAFTALI BENNETT IS RIGHT REGARDING CONVERSIONS
At...
Keeping in Mind Those Who are Unwell
Jewish liturgy reminds us regularly of the fundamental Jewish value to direct...
Old: A Jewish Meditation On Time
Avraham was old and advanced in years. (Bereshit 24:1) My birthday just...
THE BLADENSBURG PEACE CRISIS AND RELIGION IN AMERICA- a View from a Jew
At https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-peace-cross-...
Why I Always Engage in Conversation with Anti-Semites
I bumped into him on campus a few weeks later. In a completely calm and even...
Jewish History on One Foot
In my daily life I meet a ton of people who have never talked to a Jew. Often...
Detoxing From Israel
On a recent trip to America from our home in Israel, I read a handful of local...
How Brave Would I Be - Wearing a Kippah in Germany
I have had a safer, more privileged, unconfined, and all around freer...
Counterpoint: The Traditional Jewish View of Moshiach
In a recent post, fellow Jewish Values Online blogger Moshe Daniel Levine...
Sinai – The Binding of Belief and Knowledge
One of the difficulties in approaching the Biblical text is that it describes...
SIN AT THE DOOR, SINAI AT HEAVEN’S GATE: A TEACHING FOR SHAVUOT.
Here is one part of the Torah’s aching narrative about what Elie Wiesel...
The Importance of the Messiah is That He is Never Coming
In the late 18th century a small group of European Jews made a radical and...
Appreciating and Acknowledging the source of Human Intelligence
When I taught in Jewish Middle and High Schools over the course of more than...
Kvetching for a Cause: The Art of Selfishly Praying for Others
B”SD “Heal me Hashem, and I will he healed; save me Hashem, and I...
How the Rambam Helped Me Think About Free Will
One of the fundamental questions that scholars throughout Jewish history have...
The Hidden Tactics of Jews for Jesus
In the past few months I have attended two different church services (where I...
The Best and Most Important Television Show You Have Never Heard Of
While I am by no means a big television watcher, this has been an exceptional...
“Peace” as a Key Jewish Value
Some are presently contending that Judaism in general, and the Jewish people...
When Yom HaZikaron Got Personal
NOTE: Tonight begins Yom HaZikaron 5779, a day in which Israel commemorates...
The Original Israeli Land Swap Deal
Perhaps nothing evokes a stronger debate within the Israeli political sphere...
Counting Our Blessings as We Mourn
B”SD Since the shooting last Shabbat, there has been much mourning among...
Why Be Jewish? (Part 3) -- Roots and Beyond
In our opening discussions on this topic (please see Why Be Jewish? - Defining...
I Knew What A Jew Was. Of Course I Did.
When my daughters were little, we had a cassette tape called Reggae Passover...
The Seder’s Almost Here – Lets Be Prepared!
B”SD The Sages teach us that the month of Nissan is a month where every...
Meritocracy or Not?
Many of the fierce debates within our current political atmosphere could be...
A Surprising Lesson About Achieving Life Goals While Cleaning For Passover
Cleaning the kitchen with my kids last night. One of my teenagers puts on...
Women and The Passover Story
The story of Passover, as told in the Bible, is a stirring narrative. And,...
BLAMING CAIN: AN EXAMINATION OF THE JEWISH CONCEPT OF JUDGING L’KHAF ZEKHUT (Benefit of the doubt)
Here is an ancient legend about Cain and Abel, which I’ve embellished:...
The History and Paradox of Anti-Semitism
People hate Jews. This is not a radical or innovative statement. It’s a...
“Reverse Anthropomorphism”
A Talmudic passage describing God in a dialectical manner. At the end of each...
So You Have a Jewish Father: A Guide to When Dad is Jewish but Mom is not
So you have a Jewish father. You may identify as Jewish. And you may not. You...
Finding Simchat Adar in Sefer Vayikra
In this happiest month of the Jewish calendar, the month of Adar (well, second...