A Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles has taken in Torah scrolls from other Jewish institutions that are in the path of a major fire sweeping through the city. Scrolls from Leo Baeck Temple, Stephen Wise Temple, the American Jewish University, the Skirball Cultural Center and the Milken Community Schools were relocated to Valley Beth Shalom…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jewish sailors aboard the Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford now have a Torah scroll to use during their six- to eight-month stints at sea. The umbrella body for Jewish chaplains, the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, dedicated the scroll on Wednesday aboard the ship in Norfolk, Virginia. It was dedicated to…
This has been the year of women claiming agency. We began 2017 marching for our rights in Washington, D.C., and we end the year shifting the national dialogue on sexual harassment and assault. We’ve made it clearer than ever before that our voices must be heard, while asserting our right to hold positions once belonging…
A version of this article originally appeared in the Texas Jewish Post. Recently, I’ve been thinking of the many moralistic adages and maxims that pepper our daily conversations with family and friends, curious to see how many of them are consistent with Torah thought and values. What I’ve discovered is that while some of the…
The Jewish rapport with weed is long and varied, implicit yet ingrained. President Richard Nixon, father of the Drug War, was one of the first to explicitly call it out: “You know, it’s a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish,” said Nixon. “What the Christ is…
The story of the Akedah — the binding of Isaac — seems out of touch with the times. As racism and nativism have shockingly returned to the halls of power, in the United States and abroad, we need to be roused to resistance and moved to vocal protest. As pressures for ideological conformity mount across…
As I read through the growing stream of #MeToo posts last week, I was among the many men unsure of how to respond. The experiences behind each post describing sexual harassment; some horrific, others horrifically commonplace, reflect a state of our culture that must reckon with how we allow men to treat women. Lest we…
Genesis famously offers two “versions” of Adam and Eve’s creation. The first, in the first chapter of Genesis, is a broad overview: “And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The second chapter of Genesis presents a more detailed narrative: God forms…
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