(JTA) — When the war came, Galina Chornobyl fled so fast she left her teeth behind.
That’s one of the first things she shared with me when I met Galina at the Siret border crossing in Romania late last month.
Kyiv had become untenable —...
Passover is a time that accentuates the importance of oneness and unity.
On seder night, we remember our historic roots and re-experience both the dark days in Egypt and our miraculous redemption from bondage. Jewish people across the globe feel...
Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content Officer
• Published April 13, 2022
At the start of 2022, my goals were to be more creative, get more satisfaction out of life and find more happiness. One of the ways I'm doing this is to add more art to my life -- more live music, more book reading, and more visits to art galleries. Along...
(JTA) – Exactly 100 years ago, in April 1922, my great-grandparents emigrated to the United States with their four children, fearing for their lives in Kremenets, a Russian city in present-day western Ukraine.
My great-grandfather, Aaron Shimon Shpall,...
As a rabbi and spiritual mentor, I am frequently approached by community members who are struggling with making important life decisions, whether in their personal or professional capacities.
These can be small things or some of life’s greater challenges:...
(JTA) — Olives. Tomatoes. Oranges. Artichokes. Dates. Cotton balls. And, now, sunflowers.
This list might seem like a setup for a logic puzzle or a grocery run. But it is, instead, a (non-exhaustive) list that I have seen of additions to the seder...
How did she know
That on this journey
There would be
Cause to sing
— “Ashira Lashem” by Ashira Morgenstern (1983)
Sometimes, it’s about seeing the bigger picture.
It’s about taking a step back and zooming our focus out, off...
Lately, the news media has been full of coverage on whether schools should “teach” children about sexual orientation and gender. Like so many issues in front of the country right now, it has become politically charged where nuance is rarely heard....
The Shabbat before Pesach is known as Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat.
For me, this particular Shabbat HaGadol will be a time to recall and celebrate the all too often overlooked great women mentioned in the Passover story. What these women...
When it comes to language, clichés are so yesteryear. They’re the convenient fast food of communication; something to fall back on when we are trying to make a point. They pop out of our mouths like bread in a toaster—ready to serve and digest with...
Those who decry Hungary’s Orbán for his party’s past while cheering on Ukrainian nationalism are being inconsistent. It illustrates fallacies about defending both Jews and democracy.
As I am writing this op-ed, Ukraine is the No. 1 subject occupying worldwide media attention. We do not know how the Ukraine conflict will end. Predictions range from Russia annexing Ukraine to its settling for regime change to its willingness to restore...
