Samson and Delilah, a cautionary tale against mixed marriage, by Rubens / Haaretz (Haaretz) — On Shavuot, Jews around the world read the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of how the heroine – a Moabite woman – married her way into Judaism. Later rabbis adopted the story as a model of how a Jew…
Photo courtesy of Beit Tefilah Israeli This Shavuot, the Tel Aviv Municipality broke new ground in the effort to develop a native-grown pluralistic form of Judaism that meets the spiritual and cultural needs of Israel’s non-Orthodox Jewish majority. In conjunction with the liberal, independent, egalitarian minyan Beit Tefilah Israeli, the local government of Israel’s cultural…
Alexander Rapaport (JTA) — Just in time for Shavuot, with its reading of the Book of Ruth about Judaism’s first convert, a Tennessee family of 12’s conversion to Judaism has prompted an outpouring of support from Brooklyn’s haredi Orthodox community. On Sunday, Sholom and Nechama (originally Chad and Libby) McJunkin brought their 10 children to…
Hey, did you know that Shavuot is upon us? If you said, “no” or “oh, right, I remember that vaguely from grade school,” you’re not alone. Many non-observant Jews (not to mention non-Jews) are unfamiliar with this festival, even though it’s one of the most important ones in the Bible, celebrating… something (see No. 4)….
Russian immigrants to Israel / Courtesy of Alona Sibuk Her story is well known. She came from a foreign land where she lived like a princess. Despite a very questionable connection to Judaism, she chose to follow her mother-in-law to Israel. There, she lived in abject poverty, getting by only by taking charity. Even when…
As a Jewish food educator, I’m often asked for ways to enhance holiday celebrations with authentically themed dishes for the season. What was once a simple plate of apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah becomes a series of prepared desserts featuring these key ingredients. Chanukah gelt can now be acquired with fair trade certification. Vegans…
I am of the firm opinion that it is always a good time for cheese. I recently learned that the Shavuot holiday has a strong dairy component. I had never known this before, but I was very happy to discover this a day or two after I had completed a highly successful experiment in cheese…
The contemporary notion of freedom is twisted, at least in Judaism’s eyes. Many moderns feel fettered by — depending on the particulars of their lives — their jobs, finances, parents, children or spouses, and they imagine that cutting whatever bonds they find bothersome will make them free. But freedom isn’t shaking oneself loose of human…
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