In our tradition, the Holy-Day of Shavuot, the middle of our Shalosh Regalim, our three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, is unique in several ways. First, it is the only one not assigned a specific date by the Torah on the Jewish calendar...

Our Jewish tradition values human life above virtually all else.We are taught in the earliest chapters of the Torah, our core biblical text, that God created mankind in the image of the Divine (Genesis 1:27).  Our rabbis teach us that to save one life...

Did you notice that even before the coronavirus preoccupied us 24/7, foreign policy seemed virtually absent from any discussion among the 2020 presidential candidates? Although the coronavirus is a reminder of just how interdependent the planet is and...

Imagine sitting around a large dinner table with your family, singing and celebrating the great history and traditions of your culture. The flowing music fills your ears, the decadent scents fill your nose and the comfort of family fills your heart. This...

In times of crisis, it becomes increasingly important to remember one’s values and ideals in order to remain hopeful and prepared for the future. For many people around the world, these values come from religion. My name is Charlie Rosenzweig, and...

I never thought half birthdays meant anything until I turned 17½ on April 1. It had meaning because this is when I am legally allowed to register to vote in Missouri. The only problem is, I don’t know if I’ll get to vote this November.Believe it...

In August 2018, I began a yearlong program called the High School Leadership Program at Cultural Leadership, an organization that focuses on understanding cultural differences and injustices through Jewish and African American lenses. Over the course...

Just a few weeks ago, most Americans were not familiar with the concept of Zoombombing. But as the COVID-19 pandemic forced many business, community and even social meetings online, Zoom increasingly became the platform of choice for videoconferencing....

“And Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, each took his offering pan, put fire in it, placed incense upon it, and brought before God a foreign fire, which God had not commanded. And a fire went forth from before God and consumed them both, and they died...

It’s being called a social recession. A near collapse in human contact that is particularly hard on people who are most vulnerable to isolation and loneliness, which includes many older adults. The necessary steps taken to contain the coronavirus have...

I did not grow up with seders.By the time I became a Jew by choice, I was in my fifties.  I had been to a few seders, hosted by friends whose children and grandchildren turned them into raucous affairs.  I also attended one seder that was conducted...

Editor’s note: This column by Dr. James Hinrichs was made possible thanks to the generosity of Dr. Jonathan Root, Dr. Norman Druck and Galia Movitz. Thank you for your kind responses to my article last month in the Jewish Light on COVID-19. The situation...