Zooming in on Jewish Practice After COVID-19
Fighting the mortal danger of COVID-19 might have posed an existential threat to the life of the Jewish people, were
‘The Plot Against America’ Adds New, Rich Layers to Roth’s Classic
Simon and Burns thus expand the point of view of the series, taking us outside Philip’s home and into Evelyn and Alvin’s lives. In doing so, they fill out Roth’s characters, shaping them into vibrant and complex figures driven by clear motivations and desires. They strive to tell a more complete story of the Levin family, one that showcases Alvin and Evelyn as people in their own right, more than what Phillip sees.
Beshert | What is Meant to Be Meaningful
“The Rabbis do not teach us to praise or to thank God for the bad. Praise and thanks for suffering is a game for masochists and fools. We are only taught to bless the Eternal, to humbly bend our knees and to present this gift of our understanding to the Holy One, Blessed Be.”
Will We Vote by Mail Because of the Virus?
If people don’t feel safe going to the polling station, or if large gatherings and close contact are still deemed dangerous, why not allow all voters to fulfill their civic duty through the mail?
Israeli Comedian Gets Sick—and Makes Jokes
Unlike the rest of the country, the residents of the hotel aren’t in lock-down. Or at least, not within the hotel. “We can do whatever we want. We’ve arranged schedules for ourselves. We play games, we listen to music, we dance, we do yoga, I do standup, we hang out, some people pray. We eat a lot. “
Celebrating Passover Amidst Difficult Circumstances
In this time of uncertainty, Moment is working hard to provide you with fact checked news, resources and analysis—plus some lighter fare—to
A Meditation on Washing Our Hands
Even though we no longer have a basin, and we no longer have a Temple, we do still have a mitzvah to wash our hands, called netilat yadayim.
How the IDF is Battling the Coronavirus
In its efforts to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, the Israeli government has deployed thousands of Israeli soldiers to work with the police, along with the health and interior ministries, emergency health services Magen David Adom and other civilian authorities.
Must We Attend all the Shuls?
Even in normal times, too many people suffer from FOMO, the fear of missing out, the result of attempting to live, as the kids say, “all the lives.”
Confronting Passover, 1865
By 1865, it seemed self-evident that American emancipation resonated with biblical emancipation in powerful ways. But it had not always been so: This new resonance of meaning captured the hearts of American Jews only during the vicissitudes of the Civil War. Before the Civil War, most American Jews did not oppose slavery. There were exceptions, but most Jews voted Democrat, and Democrats were tolerant of slavery. The anti-slavery parties were tarred with nativism, which was distasteful and threatening to a Jewish community composed largely of immigrants and first-generation Americans. And many, including such luminaries as the Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise and the Orthodox rabbi Morris Raphall, considered acceptance of American slavery consonant with the Bible, which documents slavery and sets parameters for its practice within the Israelite community.
The White House’s Direct Line to the Ultra-Orthodox May Save Lives
“Unusual times call for unusual measures, so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise when a key aide to the president of the United States convenes a conference call with leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis, only to urge them to follow government instructions.”—Nathan Guttman
Eliot Strickon (WI): ‘In My Orthodox Community, There Were Still Large Gatherings’
Eliot Strickon (54), a Democrat from Milwaukee, WI, lives in an Orthodox Jewish and African American urban community and serves on his