In 2018, as synagogues pondered livestreaming some services for the convenience of infirm relatives, we asked the rabbis to contemplate what was surely a distant, speculative future: “What role should virtual presence play in Jewish ritual and community?”
Some issues dominate the news; others drift along under the radar. This is literally true of electronic surveillance, a worldwide and quickly growing force that could profoundly change our lives.
Our team of rabbis weighs in.
We asked our team of rabbis to weigh in.
The ethics of using “dirty money” has been a topic of conversation in Jewish circles for millennia.
Our reaction to the events in Pittsburgh began with mourning for the victims. From mourning we moved to the legitimate fear that comes from living in a nation where easily procured weapons of mass death terrorize people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people and—as always—Jews.
In the Jewish communal world, addressing systemic harassment and abuse comes with its own complications.
When hurricane Harvey devastated Southeastern Texas in late August, Rabbi Yehosua Wender was in his home waiting for the storm. Within an hour of the rain starting, the streets were flooded with two feet of water.
With the High Holidays on the horizon—and with the current political climate in mind—we asked our “Ask the Rabbis” editor to reflect on some of her favorite pieces of rabbinical wisdom.
In Barbra Streisand’s musical Yentl, Nehemiah Persoff, a World War II veteran originally from Jerusalem, plays Rebbe Mendel. Mendel secretly gives Talmud lessons to Yentl (Streisand), a young girl living in a late 19th century Polish shtetl at a time when women are barred from religious study. Yentl ultimately disguises herself as her late brother in order to enter a religious school, where drama ensues.
When it comes to marriage & divorce, Israel is a theocracy under the control of its Orthodox Rabbinate. What can be done?
