Feature

A Torah created 300 years ago in the Moroccan desert has found its 21st-century home in the deserts of Arizona.

Described as one of the most significant archaeological finds in modern Israel, the Magdala Stone, unearthed in 2009 near the shores of the Sea of Galilee, has been unveiled to the public for first time as part of a joint exhibition on the history of the menorah from May 15 to July 23 between the Vatican Museums and the Jewish Museum of Rome.

In today’s climate, now is the time to reach out to other communities to share our cultures and learn about different beliefs. A little over a month ago, my mom and I were invited to an interfaith dinner at a local mosque, where we were introduced to the Islamic faith, food and what a service looked like. They had a speaker there who instead of talking about differences, talked about the similarities between the Abrahamic religions. It was a very eye-opening experience and I wanted to share it with my youth group, BITY.

It’s not easy making Passover seder. There’s the cleaning, the cooking, the logistical and emotional challenges of hosting guests. Then there’s the cost.

When people find out I’m a Jew by Choice (otherwise known as a convert), one of the first questions I get is, “Was it hard to give up Christmas?”

With the passing of Shimon Peres, Israel lost a piece of its history. As the last of the living founding fathers of the State of Israel, many people – not just Israelis – feel like it is the end of an era. Peres’s living testimony of the establishment of the State of Israel, fraught both with enormous challenges and miracles, provided hope and inspiration to many people.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are boring. There, I said it. Seriously, what do Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur offer from a child’s perspective?

Rabbi Shmuel Notik was on his way to blow the shofar on a Friday evening in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi when six men armed with knives intercepted him on a dark street.

Cholent on Shabbat day. Brisket on Rosh Hashanah. Matzah balls and challah – lots of challah. Jews love food, and much of Jewish culture centers on sitting around the holiday table together, sharing stories and a meal.

Jacob Steinmetz delivers the game’s final pitch on a heavenly Tuesday night, producing a neatly turned double play to wrap up a 10-0 victory for the Brooklyn Bluestorm team of 12-year-olds.

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TULSA, Okla. — Walk into Congregation B’nai Emunah on any Tuesday afternoon and you’ll barely get through the massive, light-filled foyer before it hits you: an aromatic wave of warm oatmeal and raisins, or perhaps a sweet surge of rich, melting chocolate chips.

Temple Emanuel of Tempe recently revived the ancient custom of the wimpel, a piece of cloth meant to be used at multiple lifecycle events throughout an individual’s life.

Traditional Judaism mandates that a minyan – a quorum of 10 – is required for communal prayer. What is the origin of a minyan and when do you need one?  

Amalek came and waged war with Yisrael in Refidim (Exodus 17:8). — With these few words, the Torah tells us of the first attack on the Jewish people after the great miracles of the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea. The attack by the nation of Amalek, progeny of Esau and forbearers of Haman, was a brazen moment that made our people vulnerable throughout the generations.

On a recent Sunday evening at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, New York’s Midwood section, dozens of boys and men – ages 5 to 40-something – practice their kicks, strikes and jabs. They are clad in the usual all-white uniform, tied at their middles with cloth belts – mostly white, but some yellows and greens, too.

When Elana and Daniel Storch and their four young children moved to Arizona from New York in 1991, they frequently invited people to their home for Shabbat dinner. “This is the lifestyle that I grew up with,” Storch says. People would look at her in disbelief and ask, “Do you do this every week?”

About four years ago, during a heated discussion with his mom over the phone, Jonathan Whisenhunt, who had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, received some news that would alter the course of his life. 

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NEW YORK — He has been compared to a piece of rotting meat and lauded as a muckraking champion of the voiceless.

When taking a look back at both Jewish history and Jewish tradition, one is able to witness remarkable changes not only in how we live on the practical level, but also in how tradition has evolved to better match technological or social advancements. Perhaps, this understanding can be best appreciated when analyzing the changing role of the Jewish woman in her greater society – while still strictly adhering to Halacha (Jewish law) and norms of privacy and modesty.

When I was a law student, I took a course by a renowned professor who warned that if a prosecutor ever told us that our client only had two choices, we should walk away from the bargaining table. His point: There are always more options.

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WASHINGTON — Though it’s been more than a year since Rabbi Barry Freundel was hauled away in handcuffs for installing secret cameras at his synagogue’s mikvah, his crime still casts a shadow over his longtime Orthodox congregation, Kesher Israel.

Every December, Elana Snitman’s family gathers at her home, where they decorate a fake pine tree with ornaments, placing gifts underneath to exchange. After gathering for a dinner of chicken, eggplant and beet-and-potato salad, they sing a traditional song about the festive tree and the coming of winter.

Mikvah night has an unusual meaning in the Ozur Bass household. As for many observant Jewish women, it’s the night each month that Janet Ozur Bass immerses in the mikvah ritual bath after menstruation. Once she emerges from the water, husband and wife may resume the physical intimacy traditionally forbidden while a woman is menstruating.

With the publication of a new edition of the Hebrew Bible under his belt, Rabbi Naphtali (Tuly) Weisz is set to manifest his vision for honoring and nurturing evangelical Christian support for Jews and the Jewish homeland.