Jewish Holidays and Culture

Members of the Tribe

October 17, 2014

Birds do the nuttiest things. In a flock, some of the birds will voluntarily serve as sentries, scanning the horizon for predators and calling out warnings. Having a sentry is good for the group but bad for the sentry, which has less time to search for food and, by issuing a warning call, is more […]

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Wartime Unity at Hutzot HaYotzer

September 17, 2014

In a summer where nearly every large-scale outdoor event was canceled on instruction by Israel’s Home Front Command, the annual Hutzot HaYotzer International Arts and Crafts Festival in Jerusalem represented a desperately needed welcome breather. Now in its 39th year, Hutzot HaYotzer is the country’s preeminent place to meet talented local artists – nearly 200 in […]

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Will the World’s Largest Seder be Canceled this Year?

March 25, 2014

The sanctions and now full strike at Israel’s Foreign Ministry have already wreaked havoc with the country’s diplomacy. First, a planned trip by the Pope to the Holy Land appears to be on the verge of cancellation. Next, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic visit to Latin America also looks likely to fall to the editing […]

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The power of singing on Friday night

March 18, 2014

The next time you go to synagogue on a Friday night, take a moment to consider how many people are there for the davening (the prayer itself) and how many for the communal singing? If queried, most congregants will probably respond with some combination of commandedness and connection to God. But from a sociological perspective, there’s a […]

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TheTorah.com Embraces Biblical Criticism – Too Far or Not Enough?

February 12, 2014

It was almost a throw away comment, coming in the last half hour of a four part lecture series on “Truth and History in the Bible.” But in it lies the germ of revolution, with the power to rock traditional understandings of Jewish history, religion and the even the very underpinnings of rabbinic authority. The […]

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Atheist Rabbis “In the Closet”

February 5, 2014

Avraham (not his real name) is an Orthodox rabbi living in the center of the country. He is married with five children, and has a comfortable job as a rabbi/educator at a local religious school where he teaches fifth and sixth graders. There’s only one problem: Avraham no longer believes in God. But this newly […]

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More Sex and Halacha: Have We Gone Too Far…or Just Far Enough?

December 30, 2013

It was pretty much a given that my most recent article, with the provocative title “Sex and halacha: a disturbing look at the sources,” was going to attract attention. But even I was surprised by the overwhelming negative response I received from talkbacks and those Facebook friends who chose to chime in. To quickly recap: I […]

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Sex and Halacha: A Disturbing Look at the Sources

December 16, 2013

In the tractate Hagigah of the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Ilai the Elder states that if a man sees that his sexual desire is overcoming him, he should dress all in black, go to a town where no one will recognize him, and then he can do what his heart desires. It’s a proposal that sounds […]

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Circumcision, No Fine: On Why Mandating Religious Behavior Backfires

December 5, 2013

I’m circumcised. My two sons are circumcised. Pretty much every other male I know is, too (not that I check). But a ruling last week by the Supreme Rabbinical Court for Appeals in Jerusalem that essentially mandates circumcision by law, with a severe financial penalty for parents who choose not to participate in this most […]

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Mindfulness Saved the Wedding

November 19, 2013

When my wife and I were invited to an intimate wedding on the beach this week, we thought – that should be lovely. A make shift chuppah set up at sunset with just the endless blue stretching from the sands of Nitzanim as a backdrop; a barbecue and bonfire with a bride, groom, a few guests and […]

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