Ask the Rabbis // What Makes Someone a “Real” Rabbi?
INDEPENDENT
It is the community more than anything else that makes someone a rabbi. If the community finds a person’s teachings and leadership inspiring and enriching,...
The New Gene Cuisine
In Genesis, Jacob asks his father-in-law, Laban, to compensate him for 14 years of unpaid labor. His request is strange: all the speckled and spotted...
Is There Such a Thing as the Jewish People?
Interviews by Moment Staff
Adin Steinsaltz
Jewish peoplehood is always central. It comes before the Jewish nation or the Jewish state. We live in modern times, but...
The Food of Great Fiction
Here a Roth, there a Stein, everywhere a Kafka—Jews are the people of the book, a group that has long prized its own erudition and...
Ask The Rabbis | Will It Matter to Jews If There Is a Mormon President?
INDEPENDENT
Historically, the religious affiliation of a governmental leader has never been an issue for the Jewish people, as long as the government involved was not...
Double Exposure
By Yoav Stern
A Moment Magazine Special Series Israel's Arab Citizens
Israel’s Arab citizens consume both Arabic and Hebrew newspapers, radio and television. But when it comes...
Ask the Rabbis | Are Jews Still Expecting a Messiah?
INDEPENDENT
Very few of us ever expected the Messiah. We spent most of our history hoping for one. And one day, indeed, the dove will return...
Fiction // Infections
This story is the second-place winner of the 2010 Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest. Founded in 2000, the contest was created to recognize authors...
Cholent: The Truest of All Jewish Foods
Cholent as we know it today—a slow-cooking stew most commonly comprised of potatoes, barley, beans and beef—likely got its start in the late 12th or early 13th century, according to Gil Marks, author of Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.
Ask the Rabbis | What does it mean to be pro-Israel today?
Independent
Being pro-Israel today means being ever so cautious about what you read in the biased media about Israel. At the same time, it also means...