“At the core of the problem with synagogues is how the life of the synagogue is oriented”
I have witnessed firsthand the benefits and challenges that synagogues face today. I have...
Category Archives: Jewish
“Rabbi Zera merely describes a stringent practice which Babylonian Jewish women had taken upon themselves”
This term, first used by medieval commentators (see Zimmerman, p. 27, note 6), is,...
“The phenomenon of a minority people arising out of the ashes of Auschwitz to reframe not only their world but to also profoundly impact the broader culture may best summarize this century of Jewish influence”
…out of the trauma and tragedy of the earlier decades of the 20th century,...
“Every Passover, we read the haggadah at the seder and we are reminded of the obligation to imagine ourselves being redeemed from Egypt…to a proud American Jew, living with equality and freedom, it seems impossible”
Every Passover, we read the haggadah at the seder and we are reminded of...
“The creators of the Mishnaic Haggadah structured it as a work of Greco-Roman rhetorical oratory, the most common and effective means of persuasion available in their culture…”
The creators of the Mishnaic Haggadah structured it as a work of Greco-Roman rhetorical...
“…scholars have argued that the Seder might be understood as a modified Roman symposium”
For over half a century, scholars have argued that the Seder might be understood...
“Our criminal justice system punishes only the clearly guilty, and our media absolves only the clearly innocent — but that does not tell us whom our schools, synagogues and other institutions should employ”
We have to think long and hard as a community as to how we...
“Are there assumptions – correct or incorrect – in Jewish communal life that ‘the community’ is supposed to be the principal fiduciary in the financial needs of Jewish households?”
I’ve been thinking about the implied economy in educational institutions, especially as it is...
“…the Israelites departed from Egypt, a country where this bread-beer was the only obtainable or national alcoholic luxury, to the land flowing with milk, honey, and wine…”
…the Israelites departed from Egypt, a country where this bread-beer was the only obtainable...
“…the words in Exodus xii. 19, “that which is leavened,” which in Hebrew are rendered מַחְמֶצֶת, or machmetzeth, was a beer similar to the modern Egyptian paste or bread beer…”
…I contend that the words in Exodus xii. 19, “that which is leavened,” which...