By Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose
• Published April 4, 2012
The Bible is an answer to the question: how to sanctify life. And if we say we feel no need for sanctification, we only prove that the Bible is indispensable. Because it is the Bible that teaches us how to feel the need for sanctification.” —Rabbi...
I always call Pesach, well, Pesach. I use the original vocabulary for various names – i.e., t’phillin, tallit, and siddur (instead of the awful phylacteries, prayer shawl and prayer-book) — in part to reinforce Jewish vocabulary, in part because...
Congregation Shaare Emeth will present “God, Wilderness, Doubt and Faith: A Weekend with Rabbi Jamie Korngold,” April 20-22. Known as the “Adventure Rabbi,” Korngold is a Reform rabbi who is nationally recognized for her pioneering work combining...
WASHINGTON -- A former Alabama chief justice whose removal for placing a monument to the Ten Commandments in his courthouse was celebrated by Jewish groups won the Republican primary in a bid to get his old job back. Roy Moore's career as a judge...
BY RABBI ELIZABETH HERSH
• Published March 14, 2012
When you were 25, where did you envision yourself in 10 years? I was asked that question as a young rabbinical student living in Israel. I was not even 25, but a mere 21 years old and relatively innocent of the ways of the world and the workings...
Crises in faith — we all have them at one time or another. Each of us can become overwhelmed by life and what it often brings to us when we have other plans. These crises can come from many different sources — the loss of a job, the death of a loved...
NEW YORK -- An atheist organization says it will unveil a Hebrew-language billboard calling God a “myth” near a Brooklyn hasidic enclave. The group American Atheists says it will unveil a billboard Monday in hasidic-dominated South Williamsburg. The...
BY RABBI MARK LESLIE SHOOK
• Published February 15, 2012
"Oh rabbi, I may not follow everything in the Torah, but I do believe in the Ten Commandments. That should count for something." Indeed. I wish I had a dime for every time I heard that approach to the observance or rather non-observance of biblical laws....
Members of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association have signed a statement opposing a state ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriages. The group represents rabbis from 15 congregations in the state from the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist...
By Lily Siwak, Ohr Chadash, Clayton High School
• Published February 8, 2012
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kan. is best known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals of American soldiers and violating the American flag. WBC has conducted over 30,000...
BY RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSON
• Published February 1, 2012
Many of the most memorable experiences of my life, and I suspect of many others' lives, have music associated with them. Whenever I listen to those melodies, the experience associated with each of them is replayed in my mind as well. For example, many...
Our deepest relationships are not defined by strength, but by vulnerability. Our parsha begins with Judah approaching Joseph from a position of weakness. He offers his own life in exchange for his younger brother, Binyamin. In his plea, his vulnerability...
