Displaying 1 - 10 of 19
A Chilling Portrait of Bigotry: Hate Crime Murders Reach Record High in 2019
On Monday, the FBI released its annual compilation of hate crimes statistics, which summarizes all hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2019. The grim data underscore the alarming power of hateful ideologies.
Honoring Native American Heritage Month by Listening to Native American Voices
November is Native American Heritage Month, a time when being instructed to listen is especially important.
Galilee Diary: The Neighbors
Whoever saves one life in Israel [i.e., of a Jew] is as if he had saved an entire world.
– Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5
Whoever saves one life is as if he had saved an entire world.
Kristallnacht's Lessons for Today
Each year on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, we recall the opening salvo of the violent assault on Jews that foreshadowed the Holocaust and ask ourselves what should have been done at that moment.anti
The COVID-19 Crisis and the Faith Community
In addressing epidemics, there are a number of provisions of Jewish law directly relevant to challenges we face today. The spirit of these laws and their wisdom speaks across the centuries to us now.
Ki Teitzei: When You Go Out as a Warrior
Parashat Ki Teitzei includes a rich and varied collection of directives that serve as a partial blueprint for behaviors and norms to create the emerging covenantal culture. As Professor Adele Berlin notes, “Issues pertaining to women are prominent in this parashah. . . .
How Tikkun Olam and Pikuah Nefesh Will Help Me Prepare: A #BlogElul Post
Last week I had lunch with a rabbi friend who told me he’s in the midst of preparing four different sermons for the upcoming High Holidays.
Remembering Kristallnacht After Pittsburgh
On November 9, we will mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), the Third Reich's first large-scale attack on the Jews of Germany and Austria in 1938.
A Jewish Approach to Transgender Awareness Week
After services one Friday night, I was approached by a woman and child I had not seen before. The woman knew I was a rabbinical student, and said she had an important question to ask me. Then, slowly, trying to find the right words, she said, “Let’s say there was someone who was born female but realized they were male—a female to male transgender person. Would that person be able to have a bar mitzvah? Is that something Judaism would allow?”
Syrian Refugees
With more than 500,000 people displaced to neighboring countries by the violent civil war in Syria, the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR) has opened a fund to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees.