This Tisha B’av I joined a few colleagues and about a hundred Muslims and Jews for an interfaith break fast at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, NY. As I sat at the table and ate the delicious halal and kosher food that was served, I realized that the two religions share much more than most…
I was talking to a friend recently about activism and allyship and she said something that really stuck with me. She told me that instead of focusing on a label that expresses your views—a feminist, let’s say—focus on your continued, everyday actions. Labels can make us lazy. By identifying as a feminist, I may not…
A generation ago, philanthropists and foundations launched a concerted effort to bring more creativity and vitality to Jewish life. They funded visionaries who they hoped would inspire a renaissance in Jewish life. Through vehicles such as Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas, the Joshua Venture Group, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and the Bronfman Fellowships,…
Crossposted from Chakira At a time when American Haredi controversies are blossoming, from stadium-filling Internet protests to molestation charges, there are apparently still offenses lurid enough to shock. One such transgression, perpetrated by a Bnos Yaakov Elementary School, was reported by the community blog The Lakewood View. If you were following the Internet protests, you…
The problem facing Jews in their 20s and early 30s is not assimilation. It is the fact that we can’t find a meaningful Jewish community once we graduate from college. For Russian-speaking Jews, this problem can be especially hard since many of us were brought up culturally Jewish. As an undergrad, I did everything Jewish…
Long considered a crown jewel of the Conservative movement, the Schechter Day School Network is fast contracting — its enrollment dwindling and its schools being closed, consolidated and, increasingly, transformed into nondenominational community day schools. Since the late 1990s, the network has lost about a third of its schools, a handful of which haven’t closed,…
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