How did a word that means "leaning" become the way to describe the act of becoming a rabbi? ...
Seders all over the world this Passover will end with the words L’Shanah Ha Ba’ah b’Yerushalayim—“Next year in Jerusalem.” ...
The spectacle of civilians—some armed, but most unarmed—becoming the target of Russian artillery, air power, tanks and automatic weapon fire in Ukraine has captured the attention of ordinary Americans. ...
In American culture, the word “hallelujah” is so associated with Christian prayer and music—and overall rejoicing and jubilation—that people often forget it is originally Hebrew. ...
In an exclusive interview with Moment senior editor George E. Johnson, Israel Prize-winning journalist Nahum Barnea offers fresh insights on how Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new Prime Minister, will govern and why it may be different in both method and substance from his predecessor and from what people may have assumed ...
The Mourner’s Kaddish, a prayer with ancient roots that a person says upon the loss of a parent, sibling or spouse, is one of the most instantly recognizable Jewish prayers of all time. ...
A Jewish Vietnam Veteran looks back 50 years on the moral journey that changed his life. Like a distant thunderstorm,
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The word “challah” made its first appearance more than 2,500 years ago. ...
In a world in which any Jew is a potential target of anti-Semitism, it is the most visible Jews who are most threatened. Jews with black hats, with tight curls hanging down below their ears and black coats and women wearing modest head coverings, they are the most vulnerable. Jews ...
n the 1946 film The Big Sleep, based on the Raymond Chandler mystery of the same name, Carmen—the promiscuous, drug-addicted younger sister of Lauren Bacall’s character—sizes up Philip Marlowe, played by Humphrey Bogart, and asks him, “What are you, a prizefighter?” Bogart responds, “No, I’m a shamus.” “What’s a shamus?” ...
The epigram, “They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat!” sometimes serves as a tongue-in-cheek synopsis of Jewish holidays: Passover, for example, recounts the original Jewish survival story in an extended banquet punctuated by four cups of wine. ...
About five years ago, we decided to do a one-time, five-day barbecue pop-up kosher restaurant. We served nearly 6,000 people in four days, and I realized then and there that I was onto something. ...