A ceasefire agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas. The accord’s first stage called for the phased release of 33 hostages — alive or dead — over a period of 42 days. Initially, three young Israeli women were released on Sunday. Since...

A Bintel Brief, Yiddish for a bundle of letters, has been solving reader dilemmas since 1906. Send yours via email, social media or this form. Dear Bintel, Greetings from Turkey. I’ve been reading the Forward for several years. The resilience...

Shmot is a portion of opposites. It begins with the names of Jacob’s sons who traveled to Egypt. The 11 brothers are listed by name. Furthermore, we read that the number of souls who made this journey totaled 70. Memory is crucial to the Jewish people....

Readers respond to recent d’var Torah Rabbi James Bennett’s recent commentary (“Can we change history by thinking before we speak or act,” Dec. 18 edition) is an important conversation-starter about the limits of Jewish communal discourse. I...

The Jewish Light does a grave disservice to its readers by publishing editorials like that of Moshe Phillips on January 3. The editorial claims that “The war in Gaza resembles a police operation . . . security forces are going house to house, hunting...

The question of whether American Jews should criticize Israel goes beyond free speech or peace in the Middle East. It centers on the real-life consequences Israelis face, especially during conflicts like the war in Gaza. Left-wing Diaspora criticism often...

The holiday season is about to kick into high gear.  This year we’ve got Hanukkah and Christmas on the same day, followed a week later by New Year’s Eve.  That’s a lot of celebrating, eating and drinking interspersed with gift giving, gift receiving...

Praise for rabbi’s recent commentaries We are very impressed with the articles that Rabbi Ze’ev Smason submits to the Jewish Light. He always sheds a light on the truth and shares his exemplary wisdom to the Jewish people. We always look forward...

What we do and what we say matters; once we do or say something, there is often no turning back. One of life’s most important lessons is to think before we speak or act.  In reflecting on this week’s Torah portion, one cannot help but wonder how...

The 2024 U.S. presidential election elicited a spectrum of reactions across the nation. Many rejoiced, expressing optimism, gratitude and happiness. For others, the outcome was met with disappointment, concern and fear about the direction of the country. ...