Jewish Community, Jewish Organizations, Synagogues “The legacy rabbinate and top-heavy institutions are not sustainable in the long term” Author Drew Kaplan Date 20 March 2018 Religious leaders have no right to complain about intermarriage rates in the US when...
Anti-Semitism “Nearly 80 years after Kristallnacht, we are not exactly sure what a Nazi is, or should be” Author Drew Kaplan Date 19 March 2018 When Adolf Hitler’s party emerged from Bavaria with a philosophy called “Nationalsozialismus,” two of...
Rabbinic Literature “Rabbinic and Roman texts create the impression of a clear dichotomy between slaves and free people…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 8 March 2018 Rabbinic and Roman texts create the impression of a clear dichotomy between slaves and...
Halakhah “In Spanish/Portuguese congregations, hagbah was entrusted only to a select group known as levantadores….” Author Drew Kaplan Date 7 March 2018 The Mishnah Berurah (147:7) cautions that a weak person should never be honored with...
Food, Purim “…parthenogenetic (self-fertilizing) hamantaschen—pubic triangles traditionally filled with black seeds—are pre-spring, full-moon fertility cookies…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 1 March 2018 So…can I prove that hamantaschen are contemporary sacred vulva cakes? No. But it certainly...
Modern Orthodoxy “The overpriced balloon of the Modern Orthodox experience rests on three core flaws” Author Drew Kaplan Date 26 February 2018 The overpriced balloon of the Modern Orthodox experience rests on three core flaws: Jewish...
Purim “Jewish comedy was influenced by social types portrayed by the mask in the commedia dell’arte” Author Drew Kaplan Date 22 February 2018 We wish to confine ourselves to showing how the mask was related to “the...
Jewish Community “The existence of multiple moral frameworks with which to view the world is not a sign of confusion; it is a sign of sophistication and strength” Author Drew Kaplan Date 7 November 2017 I recognize that there are those people, on the right and on the left,...
Jewish Community, Jews in America “How does our community, committed to Israel as well as a host of other social justice commitments, navigate collaboration with other faith and political leaders who not only oppose one critical piece of our community’s agenda but often even militate against it?” Author Drew Kaplan Date 25 October 2017 How does our community, committed to Israel as well as a host of other...
Yom Kippur “I’ve noticed that Yom Kippur is the one day most Jews go to synagogue despite their level of observance, and I have no idea why” Author Drew Kaplan Date 29 September 2017 I’ve noticed that Yom Kippur is the one day most Jews go to synagogue...