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...

This story was originally published by the Jewish Women’s Archive, and is repurposed here with permission. My mother is modern in her love but ancient in her rituals. When I got my first period, she slapped me across the face.Perhaps for her...

Tired of the summer heat? Let’s cool off by stepping into the “treasury of snow,” as described in the Book of Job (38:22).  Where does one go to learn about snow? The internet, of course. According to SnowCrystals.com, run by some serious snow...

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,”...

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...

While we are awaiting the outcome of the Israel-Iran conflict — at a minimum Israel should demand that the regime renounce its longstanding objective of annihilating the Jewish state — let’s not forget about the Palestinian problem. As an international-relations...

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...

Baseball great Satchel Paige has been quoted as saying, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” The answer would be an alarmingly high number for some friends and me after a recent lunch.  Let me process the trauma.  Seven...

For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of developing and teaching a course titled “Israeli Politics in an Era of Polarization” at Washington University, as an Israel Fellow in the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies...

Though I have always cared about the future of Israel and Palestine, studying the conflict used to cause me to feel hopeless and powerless. I felt like I would never know enough to be able to contribute to nuanced discussion, much less reimagine the...