According to our tradition, when Isaac and Rebecca met for the first time — in last week’s Torah portion — it was love at first sight. Rebecca, journeying back from her land with Abraham’s servant, sees Isaac from the distance and promptly falls off her camel. Rashi, the medieval French philosopher, says “she sees him…
The Jewish rapport with weed is long and varied, implicit yet ingrained. President Richard Nixon, father of the Drug War, was one of the first to explicitly call it out: “You know, it’s a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish,” said Nixon. “What the Christ is…
The story of the Akedah — the binding of Isaac — seems out of touch with the times. As racism and nativism have shockingly returned to the halls of power, in the United States and abroad, we need to be roused to resistance and moved to vocal protest. As pressures for ideological conformity mount across…
It has been both heartbreaking and also oddly unsurprising to see so many women in my Facebook feed identify as victims of sexual assault and harassment. I say unsurprising because, tragically, there is a human propensity to fall prey to the ugliest trappings of patriarchy. Also unsurprising because we’ve been here before – this story…
COIMBRA, Portugal (JTA) — From its mountaintop perch, the University of Coimbra towers majestically over the downtown square that used to be the regional headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. It’s a fitting location for the 737-year-old university, the seventh oldest in the world, which outsmarted and outlived the campaign of persecution against Jews and freethinkers…
The new Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., is chock full of Torahs and cutting edge technology, but lacks the evangelical touch that many were expecting, the Washington Post reported. The $500 million museum, which opens next month, is funded primarily by the Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby, a conservative Christian group that…
Genesis famously offers two “versions” of Adam and Eve’s creation. The first, in the first chapter of Genesis, is a broad overview: “And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The second chapter of Genesis presents a more detailed narrative: God forms…
Noah’s Ark was used to save the world’s animals from perishing in a flood. Its to-size replica, opened in 2016, may be used to save its parent organization from paying taxes. Ark Encounter, a museum with a life-size replica of the biblical Noah’s Ark, is engaged in an escalating dispute with the city council of…
100% of profits support our journalism
