I recently passed the three-quarter century mark in my life. As one is wont to do at this age, I have spent considerable time lately reminiscing about what has transpired over the past 70-odd years, both the highs and the lows.  I am struck by all...

This year on May 4, we usher in Yom HaZikaron, or Israeli Memorial Day, marking the observance of silence and respect for the martyrs of Israel’s War of Independence. The following day we celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, which commemorates Israel’s Independence...

Sir Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Amongst his most famous quotes is a statement he made to the Dutch artist Peter Lely who was commissioned to paint his portrait and was well known for capturing...

We begin with sadness in this portion. And so the maqam, the musical figure in our communities of the eastern Mediterranean  associated with this portion, is maqam hijaz. A maqam is a musical figure, a partial scale, a modal form. The word maqam is a...

This week's Torah reading contains additional details about Kashrut, our Sacred Diet. To better understand the significance of the details of Kashrut, we need to go back to the Creation story (as found in the first chapter of Genesis) which depicts God...

Ever since the war in Ukraine broke out, actress Mila Kunis has taken on her greatest role yet: activist. One that could be called recurring due to the ferociousness of the war. Kunis and her partner, Ashton Kutcher, have donated time and money to the...

(JTA) — Barring a miracle, Mariupol, the beleaguered industrial center in eastern Ukraine, may henceforth be known only as the city that bore the brunt of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine’s independence and its people. But the city...

(JTA) — In the autumn of 1965, a New York Times reporter met in a Queens luncheonette with Daniel Burros, a chief organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in New York State. The reporter, McCandlish Phillips, had a difficult subject to bring up with his racist...

We’ve become accustomed to hot, muggy summers in St. Louis, but temperatures are slowly rising here and around the world—an increase of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit from 1901 to 2016, according to the EPA. That may not sound like much, but sea levels are...

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach! We find ourselves this Shabbat celebrating the eighth and final day of the Festival of Pesach, which includes the recitation of the Yizkor, the Memorial Prayers, which are chanted four times annually. And yet,...

Turning 40 for an actor can sometimes open up their repertoire to new genres or challenges as a performer. But Seth Rogen is already there, existing in an area of versatility that I am not sure some of his fans and critics know enough about. The Jewish...

Until last month, Tanya Borodina, 44, headed every day to the Shaalavim Jewish Lyceum, a school affiliated with the Conservative, or Masorti, movement in Kharkiv, Ukraine. When the city came under Russian shelling, Borodina and her young daughter fled,...