This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. The conspiracy theory started, ironically, when an Orthodox rabbi stood in front of a display of Coca-Cola bottles and...

How do I know the Passover Project: A Musical Seder was a hit? The venue ran out of matzah ball soup. And tickets too. That was the scene Tuesday night, April 8, at City Winery in the Foundry, where more than 250 guests filled the room for the second...

Streit’s, the kosher food company that’s best known for its matzah, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.  And while many things have changed since the matzah bakery was first opened on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side in 1925...

As Passover approaches, families around the world prepare to gather for the traditional Seder meal. While many are familiar with the basic elements of the Haggadah — the ancient text that guides the Seder — there are some fascinating facts you might...

As someone who’s written about beer and whiskey for over a decade, I always get the same question around this time of year: Is beer kosher? But Jewish drinkers should be asking a more specific question—is beer "kosher" for Passover? Is beer OK...

The Torah portion Tzav is about gratitude. While the Book of Leviticus is the shortest book of the Torah, it mainly speaks to the priests in a language and setting we may have difficulty understanding. We read about ritual observances of an ancient...

So many lessons in Vayikra, “and God called,” the first word. First the lesson in form, the alef in the word Vayikra, “and God called” is writ small in every scroll. Not only does God call with a silent letter (the alef is silent), God calls...

In less than a week, “The Passover Project: A Musical Seder” is back—bigger, better and more soulful than ever. This one-of-a-kind celebration is happening Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) at City Winery St. Louis at the Foundry...

James Sherman had every reason to believe he was staying put, right here in St. Louis. In February 1944, he passed his military exam but figured, at 32, married with two kids, he wasn’t going anywhere. Then came May 12—a date that would become a Sherman...

In March 1945, with World War II nearing its end and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s health failing, Vice President Harry S. Truman stepped up to deliver a Passover message to Jewish troops serving overseas. Roosevelt was just weeks from death. Truman,...

“Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov, mishk’notecha Yisrael.”  How lovely are your tents [people of] Jacob; your sanctuaries [people of] Israel. I often have used this prayer to teach my young students that when visiting a friend’s beautiful synagogue...