16 Aug
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Turning Amalek Into Jew vs. Jew

This week, we read Parashat Ki Teitzei, which concludes with the injunction to destroy and forget the tribe of Amalek, the worst enemy of the Jewish people. In this season of repentance, at least one Haredi Jewish leader is discussing who he sees as modern-day Amalek. Ynet News reports that “Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, a prominent leader in the haredi world, says that Lapid is Amalek, the archetypical enemy of Israel from biblical times. This Saturday, when the parasha of Amalek is read, Shteinman instructed his disciples to have Lapid on their minds as they utter the words telling of the great enemy of the Israelites….Sources close to Shteinman also said that he tells pupils to think of Lapid and of Education Minister Shai Piron when saying Birkat haMinim, which is said three...

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07 Jun
Latest

What Rosh Hodesh Means for Jewish Democracy

The Jewish calendar is structured on lunar activity. Every time there is a new moon, a Hebrew month begins. We read in Exdous that God told Moses: "Ha'hodesh hazeh lachem rosh hodashim rishon hu lachem l'hodshei ha'shanah." "This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you." This statement--that the Jewish people must mark the months--is counted as the first mitzvah that the Israelites received on their way out of Egypt. Rosh Hodesh happens every month, and in modern times, often with little note. But, traditionally, the determination of the first observation of the monthly new moon is the key action by which we live and act as Jews. Before the establishment of settled, printed calendars, it was the diverse voices...

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