By Rabbi James Stone Goodman
• Published February 22, 2012
Parashat Terumah Make [of] Me a Mikdash/holy placeand I will dwellwithin them- Exodus 25:8 The Zohar understands the Sanctuary as a place where two worlds are unified. It is built out of terumah, which is read by many from a Hebrew root which means to...
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....
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published February 15, 2012
Earlier this month, United Hebrew Congregation began broadcasting its Friday night Shabbat services live from its website at www.unitedhebrew.org. Anyone who has access to a computer and cannot physically be in attendance can simply log in and view and...
TORONTO -- Rabbi Gunther Plaut, a major figure in Reform Judaism, died in Toronto. Plaut, a former president of the Canadian Jewish Congress who wrote widely on human rights, died Wednesday at the age of 99. He often was quoted by media around the world...
They say the third time is a charm. I'm not sure about that, but I do know that the 3rd Annual Jewish Light Cook-off Contest is the most ambitious one to date. This year, in time for Passover, we are asking St. Louis area chefs to send us their prize-winning...
By Jessica Leader, JTA
• Published February 7, 2012
NEW YORK -- This wasn’t your typical bat mitzvah. It took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, a majority Muslim country with an Jewish community that is thought to number in the double digits. The bat mitzvah, Mei Lin Kallman, spent part of her Hebrew school...
Baptist Bishop Eddie Long has apologized for a church service in which he was wrapped in a Torah scroll and called a king. Last week during a service at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., Ralph Messer, a Messianic Jew and self-described...
The prime minister of Montenegro signed an agreement to recognize the Jewish community as an official minority in the country. Prime Minister Igor Lukšić signed the agreement Feb. 2 during an official ceremony held with representatives of the Montenegro...
Baltimore Jewish Times
• Published February 3, 2012
Rabbi Menachem Youlus, who was dubbed the "Jewish Indiana Jones" for his remarkable tales of rescuing Holocaust-era Torah scrolls, pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Youlus' accounts turned out to be contradicted by historical evidence, witness accounts...
The chief rabbi of Amsterdam, who was suspended for signing a statement on "curing" homosexuality, reportedly has been reinstated and said he was wrong to sign the document using his chief rabbi title. Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag of New York, who travels to the...
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...
By Tami Lehman-Wilzig
• Published February 1, 2012
There's something about trees. Shel Silverstein's children's book classic "The Giving Tree" proves the point: Trees are sustenance. They provide comfort and love, even shelter. Unconditional love is what they bestow. But do we give back? As Tu B'Shvat...
