Jewish Life – Excerpted

“When you vote, you hopefully evaluate the full gamut of issues and discover that on some issues one party’s views are more in accordance with Torah and on others it is the other party’s, and often neither are”

10 December 2019 Drew KaplanHalakhah

I understand that we have both College Democrats and College Republicans chapters on our campus. To be honest, I don’t understand why. Don’t get me wrong — I can readily understand why a Torah Jew[…]

“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”

10 April 20188 April 2018 Drew KaplanJews

…out of the trauma and tragedy of the earlier decades of the 20th century, Jews redefined their image and reconstructed their roles in the post-World War II period. This represented a point in time when[…]

“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?”

22 March 201813 March 2018 Drew KaplanJewish Education

I’ve been thinking about the implied economy in educational institutions, especially as it is understood in the financial aid/tuition assistance process. Ostensibly, when a person or family requests financial aid or a tuition reduction, they[…]

“The legacy rabbinate and top-heavy institutions are not sustainable in the long term”

20 March 201813 March 2018 Drew KaplanJewish Community

Religious leaders have no right to complain about intermarriage rates in the US when the religion is being priced out of affordability. And don’t even get me started on the shidduch crisis, although if you[…]

“I want to know what my rabbi thinks of Jacob and Rachel, not of Pence and Pelosi”

14 June 201712 June 2017 Drew KaplanPolitics in America

I know outstanding rabbis on the left of the political spectrum and others on the right. You can love Torah and vote for Trump. You can love Torah and think Trump is a blot on[…]

“You may feel genuinely inspired by the trite and over-used. Most aren’t”

12 December 20168 December 2016 Drew KaplanJewish

Here are some of my favorites Jewish clichés. Don’t hesitate to add yours: “All of Israel are responsible one for the other.” If I hear this one more time, I am going to become irresponsible.[…]

“Converts who request funding should probably be explicit about the costs and their own contribution to the process”

6 September 201630 August 2016 Drew KaplanConversion

Some people were bewildered that there was anything other than minor administrative costs associated with conversion. A Canadian rabbi said that even those minor costs are waved if a convert cannot pay them. The reliance[…]

“…my impressions of much of Los Angeles Jewish life — creative, casual, relaxed — particularly compared to New York”

28 January 201625 January 2016 Drew KaplanJewish Community

…consistent with my impressions of much of Los Angeles Jewish life — creative, casual, relaxed — particularly compared to New York. “New York is more bookish, more organically Jewish,” David Wolpe, author and rabbi of[…]

“…if we don’t tackle the quest for meaning in the Jewish world, at some point all of our programs are going to run out of steam”

7 December 20156 December 2015 Drew KaplanJewish Community

I think reflection and ideas in the Jewish world today are devalued. We’re extremely focused on programs and on rapid fixes to social problems, and we’re good at it. We come up with really creative[…]

“…the rabbi sometimes hears contradictory sounds — sometimes described as ‘the voice of the prophet’ or sometimes ‘the voice of the profit'”

12 August 201510 August 2015 Drew KaplanJewish Community

…an ongoing struggle that many rabbis and clergy of various faiths wage within themselves. We strive to find the proper balance between being so principled on the one hand that we are unyielding as a[…]

Excerpted

Excerpts of Interest

Tag: Jewish Life

“When you vote, you hopefully evaluate the full gamut of issues and discover that on some issues one party’s views are more in accordance with Torah and on others it is the other party’s, and often neither are”

“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”

“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?”

“The legacy rabbinate and top-heavy institutions are not sustainable in the long term”

“I want to know what my rabbi thinks of Jacob and Rachel, not of Pence and Pelosi”

“You may feel genuinely inspired by the trite and over-used. Most aren’t”

“Converts who request funding should probably be explicit about the costs and their own contribution to the process”

“…my impressions of much of Los Angeles Jewish life — creative, casual, relaxed — particularly compared to New York”

“…if we don’t tackle the quest for meaning in the Jewish world, at some point all of our programs are going to run out of steam”

“…the rabbi sometimes hears contradictory sounds — sometimes described as ‘the voice of the prophet’ or sometimes ‘the voice of the profit'”