Ask the Rabbis | Does Jewish Law Offer Guidance on How to Fight a War?
Before engaging an enemy in combat, we must offer to negotiate a peace (Deuteronomy 20:10).
From 2009 | Ask the Rabbis | When Does Life Begin?
Classical Jewish rulings concerning abortion rely primarily on the woman’s instinct, and they respect that until the fetus emerges from the womb, it remains an integral part of the woman’s body alone.
Visual Moment | The Synagogue, a Symbol of Endurance
The earliest Jewish tribes, inhabitants of the arid lands of Canaan, Phoenicia and Palestine, developed the first known Jewish prayer space, the tentlike tabernacle.
Talk of the Table | Adventures with Gefilte Fish
When my grandmother was 16, circa 1905, she journeyed alone from Smargon (in today’s Belarus) to Ellis Island
Fiction | Why Is There a Buddhist at this Seder?
On the evening of the first Passover seder, traffic on the Long Island Expressway heading east into the suburbs was massive, slow-moving and maddening, just as Martin Weissman expected.
Ask the Rabbis | How Is Judaism Different After Half a Century of Female Clergy?
Fifty years ago, Sally Priesand was ordained as a Reform rabbi, the first woman clergy member in American Jewish history. To mark this anniversary, we asked rabbis, male and female, to reflect.
Ask the Rabbis | Is Political Compromise a Jewish Virtue?
That’s how Abraham resolves his dispute with Lot over grazing lands: “If you head left, I’ll head right. If you head right, I’ll go left” (Genesis 13:9).
Visual Moment | Man Ray in Paris
Walking through the exhibition of artist Man Ray’s photographs at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is like stepping into a time machine.
Talk of the Table | The Satisfying Sweetness of Dates
When I need a sweet, satisfying nibble, I often pick up a date.
Fiction | Polonaise
The music of Chopin brings together a mysterious young Hungarian Holocaust survivor and an American music student. But just when romance is in the air, he vanishes.
Talk of the Table | A Tale of Two Briskets
If you grew up in an Ashkenazi Jewish home, you might remember the delicious oven-baked brisket your mom served up for holidays.
Ask the Rabbis | How Do You Deal With People in Your Community Who Don’t Want to Get Vaccinated?
I don’t. It is not my place to nudge people to get or not to get vaccinated.