Do you remember the cartoons in which a rain cloud would appear and cause a storm over just one individual? Even as we can marvel that, at a given moment, it’s raining in Clayton but not in Ladue, at the J but not at Mirowitz, our St. Louis region...

(JTA) — In his historical account of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Josephus describes how the Jews slowly succumbed to starvation. At the beginning of the siege, the Jewish faction known as the Zealots burned the grain reserves that had been stored...

This Shabbat marks the start of the Book of Deuteronomy, which reads: “These are the words (d’varim) that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan …” Deuteronomy is also referred to as Mishneh Torah, or the repetition...

Kol Nidrei…“Wait!” you may be thinking. “Is it Yom Kippur already?” But stay with me for a minute.  As many of us may know, Jewish holidays start at sundown and continue until sundown the next day. To help us distinguish the evening of a holiday...

This past Sunday, we fasted on the 17th of Tammuz, which our rabbis, in Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6, say commemorates five events:  Moshe breaking the Two Tablets upon seeing the Golden Calf;  suspension of the daily offerings in the Temple; the Romans...

Rabbi Ze’ev Smason has a new weekly project, and it’s one he hopes will bring people just a little closer to themselves. With Spiritual Sparks, the longtime Olivette rabbi sends a spark of inspiration each week—short reflections meant to nourish...

There are two muffins baking in an oven, a blueberry and a bran. The bran muffin turns to the blueberry and says, “Is it just me, or is it hot in here?” and the blueberry muffin says, “Holy cow! A talking muffin!!!” In this week’s parasha,...

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel devoted much of his writing and teaching to calling people to “Radical Amazement,” or heightened awareness of mystery and awe. "We don't live in an awareness that all that is is an incomprehensible mystery and miracle,”...

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. For many years,  I’ve stood with members of my congregation in our cemetery — not to bury a person, but to bury books. There...

When my grandfather, Rabbi Benson Skoff, was in the third grade, he ran for class president. He told me that he ran against a girl in his class and that he thought the gentlemanly thing to do would be to vote for her. And he expected her to do the same. She...

Last month I was lamenting the end of an era as one of the TV shows I enjoyed, “Around the Horn” came to an end after over 22 years on ESPN.  What I particularly loved about “Around the Horn” was that sportswriters from all over the country...

As the Children of Israel leave Mount Sinai, in preparation for their journey to the Land of Canaan, the Torah tells us that: “And they departed from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey.” (10:33) Commentators explain that this means that...