By Rabbi Dale Schreiber
• Published March 28, 2024
For an estimated 13 centuries, sacrificial offerings were the way of Jewish worship. The protocols for such practices are recorded in the third book of Torah, Leviticus, or Vayikra in Hebrew.
The rabbis often referred to books of Torah with names reflecting...
Basketball fans are still debating Jordan vs. Lebron—which was the GOAT (the Greatest of All Time). New Yorkers of a certain age used to argue passionately about the relative merits of Mantle, Mays and Snider, who were contemporaneous and competing...
A message from Shaving Israel’s president
Oct. 7 changed everything for everyone in Israel and of course for Shaving Israel. Shaving Israel is very proud to support members of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) in a very meaningful, personal, hands-on...
By Cantor and Rabbi Ron Eichaker United hebrew Congreegation
• Published March 21, 2024
At times, our purpose or direction in life may be less clear than others. There can be many influences that can cast a pall over our existence, taking us to murky places we may not choose to go.
When clouds of uncertainty cause us to remain stationary,...
By Rabbi James Bennett, Congreegation Shaare Emeth
• Published March 6, 2024
For most of my life I have inclined towards a philosophy of universalism. From my earliest years, I understood our Jewish tradition as teaching that each human being is created B’tselem Elohim, in the Divine image, and that all human beings are equally...
By Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh
• Published February 29, 2024
Ki Tissa opens with God telling Moses to take a census of the Israelite people. Each shall contribute a half shekel. The wealthy should not pay more nor the less fortunate less. We read about details involving the priests as well as the commandment to...
Jonathan S. Tobin, JNS
• Published February 27, 2024
For a few weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks, it seemed as if American Jewry was waking up. The massive pro-Israel rally held in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14 was an indication that large numbers of Jews—as many as 300,000 attended in person with an estimated...
Amy Fenster Brown, Special To The Jewish Light
• Published February 26, 2024
Kids these days. The older mine get the less I understand what they’re saying. I hear the words and I know they are words, but when strung together and spoken, they just don’t make sense.
In the past, I’ve helped you de-code what in tarnation...
In the wake of continued pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses that effectively rationalize the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 against Israel, it is worth further examining the stunning testimony of the three college presidents of University of Pennsylvania,...
Rabbi Josef Davidson
• Published February 21, 2024
Name tags: one either loves them or hates them; there is no in-between. Everyone, however, is in agreement that they serve a worthy purpose. Wearing a name tag alleviates the awkwardness that comes with recognizing the face but not the name. Name tags...
Rabbi James Stone Goodman
• Published February 15, 2024
In the portion Terumah, we encounter the first objectification of the spirit: The Sanctuary as it will house what was previously the unencumbered Spirit.
God says, build the place out of Me: Make [of] Me a Mikdash/holy place, and I will dwell [Shakhanti/Shekhinah]...
BY DOROTHY FIRESTONE, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published February 13, 2024
I have been cooking all 73 years of my married life, and I know when something needs salt or when it has enough. But I knew little about sodium, a chief ingredient in salt.
Then I was introduced to Sue Picus, a semi-retired registered dietician...
