I teach a philosophy of religion seminar titled “Faith and Reason.” Most students who register arrive with a mistaken assumption: that the course explores the differences between the two. “Faith” is often defined as belief in a supernatural...

ORLANDO (JTA) —  Ethan Smith ranks fifth in his New Jersey high school class, scored high on the SAT and aced a full slate of five Advanced Placement tests last year. On Oct. 1, he submitted his application to a nearby Ivy League school, the University...

  The Conservative movement is upholding its ban on rabbis officiating interfaith weddings, according to a new, 21-page report released this week. However, the report recommends various changes, such as introducing new rituals and updating...

(JTA) — On Nov. 29, 2021, Ilan and Sherri Glazer announced to the public that they were expecting a baby after three rounds of IVF. The following day, during their 20-week ultrasound, they learned that their baby’s brain wasn’t forming properly....

For the past 15 years, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside my wife. People often ask us whether it’s difficult to live and work together, and the truth is I really can’t imagine it any other way. We both like to talk about everything from...

This article initially appeared in My Jewish Learning’s Shabbat newsletter Recharge on Oct. 21, 2023. To sign up to receive Recharge each week in your inbox, click here. (JTA) — They say that while the Torah doesn’t change each year, we...

(JTA) — Before he paid his respects at the funeral of Wadea al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed to death in what police are calling a hate crime, Rabbi Ari Hart called the officiants of the funeral to make sure his presence would...

This week we joyously celebrate the bounty of our lives during the festival of Sukkot. Even though most of us are not farmers, we think about the cycles of nature and, more specifically, the harvest season.   If we were farmers, while focusing on the...

As Yom Kippur quickly approaches, I am struck by the meaning behind the rituals and customs that surround our holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Chief among them: fasting for 25 hours. The Torah commands us to abstain from eating and drinking between...

This article originally appeared in Kveller. (JTA) — The Hebrew month of Elul — which leads up to Rosh Hashanah — is when I like to take stock of my previous year, and a part of me feels like I say the same thing every single time: Heck of a...

(JNS) -- Ready or not, Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of Friday, Sept. 15, and lasts through sundown on Sunday, Sept. 17—the first two days of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar. It coincides with Shabbat this year, so an especially grand festive meal...

(JTA) — Last week we did it: My wife and I dropped our eldest son off for his first year of college. As you can imagine, it is a heady, emotional moment. There is pride and joy mixed with anxiety and the bittersweet sense that this primary chapter of...