The newly-established Reform Jewish community of Shanghai, China, will receive its first Torah scroll from a sister congregation in Brazil. The donation of the scroll by ARI, Rio de Janeiro’s Progressive congregation, to the Kehilat Shanghai community was announced at a ceremony Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, where 300 delegates are attending at the World…
Modern education cherishes the value of “hands-on” education but Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch brings that approach to a whole new level. Deutsch created a museum in the heart of Hassidic Boro Park, Brooklyn, to induct anyone and everyone into the animal kingdom as laid out in the Hebrew Bible. No, the rabbi is not trying…
Rabbi Yael Buechler Wondering how to address that whole Passover nail situation? Midrash Manicures has a new interpretation of the ten plagues that will make any fashionista happy — and spark meaningful Seder conversation. Rabbi Yael Buechler’s modern ten plagues include everything from Ebola to NFL scandals, to the war on women. And the parents among…
The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland will save two pre-World War II Torah scrolls using a grant received from the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland. The Torah scrolls are originally from Zamosc and Zwierzyniec. After restoration the Zamosc scroll will be exhibited in a display case in the…
A stolen Torah scroll uncovered by an Iranian volunteer militia was returned to the Shiraz Jewish community, the Fars News Agency reported. Members of the Basij located the ancient scroll taken from a Shiraz synagogue. The scroll was returned to the community at a ceremony on Feb. 11, the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution’s victory,…
A Holocaust commemoration group brought from Poland to Israel a drum that was made out of a Torah scroll and belonged to a Nazi sympathizer. The drum was found last month by volunteers of the From The Depths organization in the basement of a man who lived in a village near the central Polish city…
When studying Talmud, it’s easy to be desensitized to the real-life implications of even the most sensitive issues — rape, for example. So, as we at Yeshivat Har Etzion study the third chapter of the Talmudic tractate Ketubot, a chapter devoted to the crimes of rape and seduction, it’s easy to forget (especially when using…
Getty Images Just a few months before he was killed in a 1996 bus bombing, my JTS classmate Matt Eisenfeld held a party in his Jerusalem apartment. It was a Saturday night, but it was hardly a typical Saturday night event. It was a siyyum, a conclusion of study, celebrating his completion of Masechet Kiddushin,…
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