By Rabbi Deborah Waxman
• Published January 30, 2018
PHILADELPHIA — “I don’t know any Jews who go to temple.”The line is from a remarkably poignant scene in the 2004 film “Garden State,” in which Zach Braff’s character explains to his love interest, played by Natalie Portman, a few things...
About 20 years ago, nearly five years before I retired, I began investigating what retirement might be like and what I could do to make it what I wanted it to be. My friend, Keith Lawrence, and I joined forces and were fortunate to learn enough to write...
In Harris Frank’s letter to the editor “Millstone Remembered” (Jan. 10 edition), Mr. Frank wrote that Mr. Millstone’s “philanthropy did not stop” with St. Louis. On our first trip to Israel our guide gave the group a little historical trivia....
Each time I sit down to study Torah, I walk away with a relevant message for my daily life. There is always a “take home” value to it. This week’s Torah portion is no exception as it is replete with pertinent lessons, some open and others more subtle. One...
It is that time for New Year’s resolutions. The past year ended with “The Silence Breakers” — the women who came forward as part of the #MeToo movement to report their stories about sexual assault and harassment — being named Time magazine’s...
Better togetherI want to thank the Jewish Light for its front-page story last week highlighting SB 849, the bipartisan “anti-discrimination against Israel” bill that was introduced last week by Mo. Sens. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, and Jill Schupp...
The menu for the original Trefa Banquet, held to honor delegates of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, July 11, 1883, shows that no pork was served — although diners could enjoy crab, shrimp and frog, among other non-kosher delicacies. (Courtesy...
(Flickr Commons)(JTA) — #MeToo. #GamAni. The stories are numerous and painful. They span decades and reach every corner of the Jewish community. Enough is enough. The time is now for us to finally and fully address sexual harassment in Jewish institutional...
By Rachel Minkowsky, Kveller via JTA
• Published January 11, 2018
My family joined a synagogue a few months ago, and overall it’s been wonderful for us. But after our first family Shabbat service, I realized I had a lot to learn. And I wanted to learn. I wanted to be a good example for both my children, but especially...
Nine years ago, I. E. Millstone took himself to a better place (he thought) and in so doing our Jewish community lost our greatest, modern-day hero. For more reasons than he would ever want listed – or that space might permit – there will very probably...
NEW YORK (JTA) — Several recent political measures in Israel — including announcements by Israel’s parliament, attorney general and ruling party — have significantly begun to undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution.Let me...
(JTA) — On Easter Sunday in 1959, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rose in the pulpit of his Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, to deliver a sermon that focused on his just-completed visit, with his wife, Coretta, to Jerusalem and its...
