Jane Eisner’s special report, A Day at the Kotel, is running in three parts, ending today. Each piece focuses on a different time of day at the Western Wall, and the implications for the battle over the future of Judaism’s holiest site. By early evening, a summer breeze is making its way across the Kotel…
Jane Eisner’s special report, A Day at the Kotel, will run in three parts, starting yesterday and continuing tomorrow. Each piece focuses on a different time of day at the Western Wall, and the implications for the battle over the future of Judaism’s holiest site. Now, the sun is high in the sky and boys…
Jane Eisner’s special report, A Day at the Kotel, will run in three parts, starting today and continuing tomorrow and Wednesday. Each piece focuses on a different time of day at the Western Wall, and the implications for the battle over the future of Judaism’s holiest site. The shops are still shuttered as I walk…
I am, in my religious behavior, somewhere between what Israelis would call a hiloni or “secular” Jew and a masorti or “traditional” one. My wife and I light candles on Shabbat, we celebrate the Jewish holidays with our children and grandchildren, and now and then, for one reason or another, I find myself in a…
At the Kotel, the Jewish value of elu v’elu (“These and these are the words of the living God”) has degenerated into name-calling as well as into rock, trash and coffee throwing. These objectors claim that the women who come together on Rosh Hodesh — the beginning of the Jewish month — to pray in…
Nearly 20 years ago I was living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a haven for observant Conservative Jews. I had my choice of multiple minyanim to attend; even the crowded weekend city streets had an air of the Sabbath, and kosher food abounded. There were so many Conservative and egalitarian options that I rarely ventured…
To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of a bold plan to provide equal space for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem are greatly exaggerated. But that doesn’t mean they may not become true. Which is why it is so important that American Jews find every bit of common ground they can…
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