Before becoming a rabbi, Benay Lappe wanted to be a Buddhist monk. While Jews have often been drawn to Eastern traditions, few dedicate nearly a decade to becoming a devout Buddhist in Japan. Lappe is hardcore. But before making her final commitment, she consulted with a rabbi in Tokyo who gave her a copy of…
The announcement came in early March: The Standard Club, a nexus of Jewish life in Chicago for 150 years, would be closing its doors May 1 and its building, a 13-story, 1920s high rise designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, would be sold. Thanks to the coronavirus, the club didn’t last even that long. It…
As he walks the hallways of a large suburban Chicago hospital amidst an increasing number of COVID-19 patients, Rabbi Ariel Marinelli is scared. “My wife and I are on the same page,” said the 37-year-old Orthodox rabbi. “She too gets nervous.” It’s a familiar but dispiriting return to the pandemic front lines for Marinelli, the…
It began with books. Rabbi Michael Siegel gave Pastor Chris Harris a copy of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s “The Sabbath,” and “Lovesong,” by Julius Lester. Harris sent Siegel Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow.” They had met, about 10 years ago, after Siegel, the longtime senior rabbi at the Conservative Anshe Emet synagogue on Chicago’s North…
After the 1980 election, many friends of Israel in Congress were defeated by political groups that opposed Israel and the values of mainstream American Jewry. The far right movement was on the rise. Seeing these changes and the political danger it posed for the U.S.-Israel relationship, a young woman from Chicago named Linda Sher decided…
Did Northwestern University student efforts to fight for Black student’s safety on campus take an ugly turn to antisemitism? That’s the contention raised in an open letter from the university’s president Morton Schapiro — though students who took part in the protests dispute it. In a letter to the campus community, Schapiro said some students…
In a recent interview with Variety, Aaron Sorkin revealed how he’d script a speculative end to the Trump presidency. After the election, Sorkin predicted, in the face of a clear win for Biden, Trump will try to claim the Democrats cheated. But then a reckoning arrives. “For the first time, his Republican enablers march up…
More than half a year into the global COVID-19 pandemic, much of the world is still figuring out how to adapt to a new way of doing things, including attending religious services, going to school, shopping and eating. But one Jewish community is reporting remarkable success in how it helps local organizations meet their community’s…
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