TOKYO—Sitting in Tokyo shortly before the first anniversary of the tsunami, I recalled my surprise the first time a Japanese person thanked me, as a Jew, for Israel’s immediate response to the disaster. It was certainly not the time to instruct that...

NEW YORK — Rachel Isaacs has known, for as long as she can remember, that she wanted to be a rabbi.  On May 19, she concluded her pioneering journey through the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary to become the first openly gay person...