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Marry a Jew and You’re One of Us
Millennia ago, before rabbis existed or conversion was invented, thousands who were not born Jewish became part of the Jewish community through a very simple act: They married a Jew. Sarah was the first, followed in turn by Rebecca, Leah and Rachel. Thousands more followed — both biblical characters and many more whose lives as…
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A Cherokee Passover Tale?
While researching Francis Salvador, the first Jew to die in the Revolutionary War, Paul Berger discover that the signal to prevent Indian attack was called a Passover pole.
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Man Cannot Live on Matzo Alone
The Seesaw is a new kind of advice column in which a broad range of columnists will address the real life issues faced by interfaith couples and families. Read the discussion and vote below for what you think is the best response to this particular quandary. You can email your own questions, which will remain…
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Why Did French TV Pinpoint Hideout of Kosher Market Terror Victims?
Prosecutors in Paris are examining whether a local television station broke the law when it broadcast live reports about the location of hostages who tried to flee the killer of four Jews in January at a kosher supermarket near the French capital. The investigation was launched this week following complaints by survivors of the Jan….
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Benjamin Netanyahu Angrily Denounces Iran Deal as ‘Path to Bomb’
(Reuters) — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet on Friday to discuss the framework deal reached between world powers and Iran, after telling U.S. President Barack Obama in a phone call that he “vehemently opposed” the agreement. Obama called Netanyahu within hours of the deal being struck, saying it represented significant…
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Deal or No, Lifting Iran Sanctions May Be Easier Said Than Done
During the long negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, there’s been a lot of attention paid to the heavy water facilities and centrifuges that Iran is operating, the enriched uranium it produces and whether an inspection regime can bring these facilities under stricter international control. But the other side of the equation, and no less complicated,…
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Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s ‘Obama Is Haman’ Rant Reflects Growing Israeli Anger Over Iran
(JTA) — For years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has compared Iran to the biblical Persia, the ancient kingdom where the Jewish people were nearly annihilated through the evil designs of the arch-villain Haman. But when an American-born rabbi, widely seen as a religious moderate who built one of the most innovative Orthodox synagogues in…
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Is Smoking Kosher for Passover — and What About Pot?
Smoking is one of those topics that ties rabbis up in knots, and marijuana just clouds the issue even more. And that’s before Jewish dietary laws even come into it. Yes, smoking is now acknowledged to be bad for you, so indulgence ostensibly contravenes the command not to desecrate the body. But it is also…
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Celebrating Holiday of Freedom in an Israeli Desert Jail
Perhaps the most relevant Seder in Israel took place in the most isolated of places. The Holot Residency Center is located near the border with Egypt, an hour’s ride southwest from the city of Beersheba into the desert. This detention facility is home to people like Mutasim Ali, who fled the war-torn Darfur region in…
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When Grandpa’s Seder Is a Turn-Off
The Seesaw is a new kind of advice column in which a broad range of columnists will address the real life issues faced by interfaith couples and families. Read the discussion and vote below for what you think is the best response to this particular quandary. You can email your own questions, which will remain…
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Jewish Navy SEAL Vet Jumps into Missouri Governor’s Race
The Republican primary contest for the 2016 Missouri governor’s race has barely begun. But it is already one of the most unusual and tragic in the state’s memory, upended by the suicide of a top contender followed by accusations that anti-Semitism played a role in his death, despite the fact that he was not Jewish….
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