It is a regrettable injustice that the major contribution of the resistance to the creation of the State of Israel is almost entirely absent from our collective memory.This July and August mark the 72nd anniversary of the journey of the Exodus 1947 (originally...

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, arrive in the Fardos neighbourhood after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters, Dec. 13, 2016. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

In Parashat Hukkat, our sages read the absence of water that follows Miriam’s death as alluding to the drying up of the well that traveled with the Israelites throughout their journeys, given as a gift in merit of Miriam (Bavli Talmud Ta’anit 9a).What...

The Israelites still are in the Wilderness. They still are preparing to inaugurate usage of the Mishkan/Dwelling-place, the portable wilderness Sanctuary or Tabernacle. Our Torah portion opens with these words: “The Eternal spoke to Moses as follows....

“Our tale begins in degradation and ends in praise.”This is more or less the entire original seder “script” outlined in the Mishnah nearly 2,000 years ago. It outlines not only the story of Exodus, but also a way of looking at Jewish and divine...

What’s the most important part of Passover? Matzah? Wine? Haggadah? Aunt Tilly’s gefilte fish? Freedom from slavery is awesome. But despite the lines of the Haggadah song “dayenu,” the freedom would not have meant very much without the Torah....

In his new book “Moses: A Stranger Among Us,” ($19, Cascade Books, 164 pages), Rabbi Maurice D. Harris, a native of St. Louis, sets forth a fresh look at Moses, “from a progressive, pluralistic Jewish perspective.”  Rabbi Harris himself is no...

As the season of Pesach approaches and households are busy eliminating all traces of chametz from the shelves and replacing it with matzah, it seems reasonable to be thinking of how we plan to embrace the traditions that await us on Friday at sundown. ...

Too often a good idea leads to less desirable—though unintended—consequences. So it was with the Jewish Light’s Matzah Taste Test. Wouldn’t it be helpful to buy a bunch of different brands of matzah and recruit staff members to judge the brands...