Howard Smith
By Howard Smith
-
Opinion In Search of the Meaning of Life
I love being an astronomer, especially at times like the midnight of Shavuot when, according to mystical tradition, people who look skyward are rewarded with a taste of the revelation that occurred at Sinai. The kabbalists of 16th-century Safed innovated the concept of all-night Torah study on Shavuot, because on this night of revelation God…
-
Opinion In the Beginning, 13.73 Billion Years Ago
Since the start of the Hebrew month of Elul in late August, Jews have been examining the year past in search of lessons to apply to the year ahead. Now, as the holiday season winds to a close, the weekly cycle of Torah readings offers another opportunity to examine the past as we return to…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture ‘Shtisel’ star Sasson Gabay is happy to be back playing a complex haredi Orthodox Jew in ‘Kugel’
-
Fast Forward Noa Argamani, ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt among over a dozen Jews on 2025 TIME 100 list
-
Fast Forward US claims Mohsen Mahdawi’s activism could ‘potentially undermine’ prospect of peace in Gaza
-
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
