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By Kaya Stern-Kaufman Chapter two of B 'midbar describes the arrangement and organization of the Israelite camp in the wilderness. The mishkan, God's tabernacle, is to reside in the center of the camp. It is surrounded by the tribe of Levites to guard and protect it. In the east, with the rising sun, the tribes Read More >

Every year we read the same parashiyot, in the same order, always finding something new. This year, my discovery came last Rosh HaShanah, when I reviewed this week's parashah, Vayera. We all know Parashat Vayera. Angels visit Abraham, Abraham argues with God, God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his daughters have interesting, incestuous relationships, Sarah has her Read More >

August: the lazy days of summer. Our senses are filled with the beauty of late sunsets, the taste of fresh produce, the feeling of grass on bare feet. My family and I will be setting out on vacation shortly, a road trip that will include visits to college campuses, as we embark on the ritual Read More >

By Simon Rosenbach If you are of a certain age, you remember Superman, the television show with George Reeves, Noel Neill, Jack Larson, and, among others, Phillips Tead as the delightful Professor Pepperwinkle . . . but I digress. Of course you remember the end of the introduction: “fighting a never ending battle for truth, Read More >

By Rabbi Halina Rubenstein One of the most rewarding experiences of my rabbinical career has been teaching conversion classes. It is exhilarating seeing the students learning Judaism step by step and then witnessing their evolving Jewish identity when everything you have been teaching congeals and becomes love and acceptance. The close relationship that the students Read More >

By Sanford Olshansky When I was 22 years old, I had stopped practicing Judaism. My attendance at Shabbat services had dwindled to zero. Not so unusual – lots of Jews attend synagogue only on the High Holidays plus an occasional bar/bat mitzvah or wedding. But that year, I didn’t even attend High Holiday services – Read More >

By Rabbi Dorit Edut "Zokhreinu Lehayyim Melekh Hafetz Behayyim-Remember us that we may live, O Ruler Who delights in Life - V'Khotveynu B'Sefer Hahayyim Lema'ankha Elohim Hayim - Inscribe us in the Book of Life, for Your Sake, O Living God." These are the words of a special insertion in the High Holy Day Amidah. Read More >

Parashat Ha’azinu/Shabbat Shuva Susan Elkodsi Shabbat Shuva carries with it an air of redemption, for ourselves as individuals, and for the Jewish people as a whole. Parashat Ha’azinu, which we read on Shabbat Shuva this year, carries that message from God, through Moses, to the Israelites perched on the banks of the Jordan ready to Read More >

By Doug Alpert We tend to apprehend the present Hag HaSukkot by placing it within the context of the annual agricultural cycle. The notion of "dwelling in booths" (Vayikra 23:42-43) was compelled at least in part by the need to not stray to far from the fields during harvest. We also tend to understand Sukkot Read More >

A Meaning in the 21st Century By Julius Rabinowitz This coming Shabbat we celebrate the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, a one day holiday that seems to be lacking an identity to most American Jews. Biblically, a holiday in which we are to hold a "solemn gathering", accompanied by the annual celebration of the "prayer for Read More >