By MARK LEVEN ATLANTA (JTA) – My library has the popular book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” in which Yuval Harari — a Jew, an Israeli and an acclaimed author — states that the Jewish people don’t have a reason to exist anymore. They’ve finished what they had come here to do by contributing to a range of fields, […]

By DEBORAH FINEBLUM (JNS) – You shall love the convert for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.— Deuteronomy 10:19 There was a moment some 2,500 years ago when a recently widowed Moabite princess refused to abandon her aging mother-in-law and return home—a moment that made history as she became the first convert in recorded Jewish history. Ruth’s words—“Where you […]

By Rabbi Dr. RAYMOND APPLE In the synagogue in which I was brought up, Shavuot attracted a much smaller crowd than any other festival. My rabbi held office at that synagogue for many decades and his verdict was simple: “It’s just like Cinderella”. In the old fairy tale Cinderella was the poor girl whom nobody valued until at last she […]

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” May 26, 2020, https://bit.ly/36vxcHv More on Jewish holidays: Smashwords, Amazon 1. Impact on the formation of the US The holiday of Shavou’ot (Pentecost) commemorates the legacy of Moses – the Exodus, the Ten Commandments and the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) -which had a significant impact on the key […]

By HENRY ABRAMSON NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Jewish colleges and universities and departments of Jewish studies may be guided by the core values of traditional religious texts, but their specific tools for survival in the post-COVID-19 era will probably be taken from the pages of the Chronicle of Higher Education rather than the Shulchan Aruch.  The challenges to higher […]

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Renee Godinez had completed nearly all the steps to becoming Jewish before the coronavirus pandemic erupted earlier this spring. She had studied extensively with Rabbi Rick Winer of Temple Beth Israel in Fresno, Calif., and adopted Jewish practices in her life. All that was missing was a ceremony to mark the end […]

By DAVID SUISSA (Jewish Journal via JNS) – For centuries, Jewish life revolved around a glorious piece of real estate—the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Jewish holidays, holy rituals, sacrifices, prayers, priestly blessings, communal gatherings, etc., all happened at the Temple. Adaptations When the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., Judaism and the Jewish people were forced to adapt. We […]

By MARCY OSTER NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – When Rabbi Moshe Hauer recently told Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top health advisor, that synagogues wouldn’t let congregants sit within 8 feet of each other once services resume, he wasn’t just making a joke about Jews’ tendency toward closeness. He was also previewing a set of formal guidelines that the organization […]

(Chabad.org/News via JNS) – Chest rising and falling, machines beeping, the hospital room is eerily calm. Nurses flitter in and out, staying just as long as they need to before turning their attention to the next patient. They have so much to do and so little time to do it. The easy chair beside the hospital bed is empty, as are […]

By IRA BEDZOW NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – For a short period of time in April, New York state officials enacted controversial guidelines that again tested the inherent tension that the COVD-19 pandemic is causing between our country’s most deeply cherished values — respect for multiculturalism and religious freedom on the one side and the state’s responsibility to promote the […]