Happy Valentine’s Day from Moment
Whether you believe that Jews should celebrate Valentine’s Day in February or Tu B’Av in August, there is no question that love, both romantic and platonic, is important in our culture and history. Jewish people continue to connect and to love under the best, and worst, of circumstances.
Ask the Rabbis | What Does Judaism Say About Love?
Love is the gravity that pulls the universe together.
The Jewish expression of love is a triangle: love of self, love of another and love of God.
Read these and other commentaries about the meaning of love in Moment’s flagship column, “Ask the Rabbis,” where rabbis across the denominations discuss age-old questions.
Great Love Stories from the Holocaust
It is easy to find love in a beautiful place. But to find love in the shadow of death is most remarkable. The young Jews who, caught in the Holocaust, held onto life in ghettos, forests, transit camps, slave labor camps and death camps were indeed remarkable. Combining love with mourning, they began to rebuild their lives. Love was a gateway to the future: new lives, new lands, new homes and children.
Why tell these stories now? Each love story—mysterious, deep and forged in pain—has something to teach us. Read these inspiring Holocaust stories of love, courage, grace and spirit here.
Beshert—Destiny and the Jewish Soulmate
What is “beshert?” Where does the word come from, and what does it mean? The term beshert is most often used to designate a soulmate: the one person whom an individual is divinely destined to marry. How does the idea of beshert—or destiny—fit within Jewish philosophy? Explore the meaning of history of the term beshert in the Moment‘s feature “Jewish Word” column.
We’re Asking!
Below is a special selection of our Beshert stories. We hope you enjoy and find meaning and inspiration in them on Valentine’s Day and every day.
Beshert | Roadside Assistance
It happened shortly after 8 on a summer Sunday morning. I was driving on a rural section of Interstate 75
Beshert | The Phone Number in His Wallet
It was early September 1956. I was living in a Greenwich Village basement apartment, when I got a phone call
Beshert | Misinformation
A delicious piece of misinformation had originated with that same taciturn scientist to whom I’d always shown only polite professionalism.
Beshert | “It’s Rare to Meet a Kindred Spirit…”
In 1993, my PR agency was launching a German company’s product. I was collecting the team at Montreal’s Dorval airport.
Beshert | Putting the ‘Fall’ in ‘Falling in Love’
It was a time of innocence for first-generation American teenagers like my mother, Eleanor Wolin. The wars in Europe seemed far away.
Beshert | I Said “Yes to the Dress.” Twice.
“We decide not to send the wedding invitations. Instead, I spend the day canceling the venue, florist, photographer and the princess style dress fitting while hot tears flow onto the unsent invitations.”
Beshert | From Cuppa to Chuppah
Now married 35 years, Betsy and Stuart met when she went to rent the apartment he was vacating. He appreciated her choice of hot beverage.
Beshert | Crushing on Leonard Nimoy
It was 1970 and “Star Trek” had just ended on TV. Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock, the hybrid human-alien,
Beshert | A Feline Love Story
Beshert surprised me in the five-pound form of a rescue cat with one eye and a crooked gait.
Beshert | ‘Pardon Me, But Is This Seat Taken?’
A cute British man, my age, randomly met on a train in a foreign country (for me) that I wasn’t supposed to be on, shared my quirky passion!