Marriage
The Voice That Speaks in My SoulFriday, March 8, 2013 by Susan Taubes | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Echoing Kafka in this 1949 letter of protest to a domineering male, Susan Taubes writes: "I can no more keep to the laws of the Bible than I can cross myself or take the sacrament."
Yair Lapid’s ReligionTuesday, February 19, 2013 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a speech to haredi students last year, Yair Lapid advocated a shared public sphere in Israel that is neutral on questions of religion. Does he now have the chance to implement his vision?
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
This week, Isaac prays "on behalf of" his wife—but that's not what the Hebrew really means. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:45
Max Lilienthal’s Aborted ReturnWednesday, October 31, 2012 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In Bruce L. Ruben’s new biography Max Lilienthal: The Making of the American Rabbinate, about one of the pioneers of the American Reform movement, I was surprised to learn that Lilienthal almost made a second trip to Tsarist Russia.
Charles Murray and the RabbisWednesday, August 15, 2012 by Yaakov Y. Kermaier, N. Daniel Korobkin, Yosie Levine, Ari Perl, and Benjamin J. Samuels | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Five Modern Orthodox rabbis bring the Jewish tradition to bear on questions posed by the eminent sociologist.
Editors' Picks
An Overdue Marriage Proposal Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post. Reforms to Israel's religious bureaucracy, announced this week, will force rabbis to compete for clients.
A Love Letter from God Jonathan Sacks, Jewish Press. "In giving the Torah to Israel, God was not asserting His power, dominance or lordship over Israel. He was declaring His love."
Divorcing the Rabbinate from Marriage Israel Drazin, Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Israel's "state-backed Orthodox rabbinic court monopoly must be disbanded and replaced by a rich and vibrant mosaic of voluntary rabbinic courts," argues a new book.
Saving Israel's Chief Rabbinate Dov S. Zakheim, Jewish Ideas and Ideals. After retiring as Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi in 2003, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron set out a plan to end the chief rabbinate's hegemonic control over marriage. Now it is time to implement it.
Benedict and the Bible Meir Y. Soloveichik, Weekly Standard. Benedict XVI "began and ended his papacy by celebrating the Hebraic, traditional Jewish understanding of love and marriage."
The Problem with Gay Marriage Gilles Bernheim, First Things. "All the affection in the world will not suffice to produce the basic psychological structures that address the child’s need to know where he comes from."
Access Denied Daniel Estrin, Atlantic. Israel's Russian immigrants must prove their Jewish ancestry to obtain marriage licenses from the government. But Russia is making it increasingly difficult to access the Soviet archives.
Solomon Remembers Andrew McCulloch, TLS. The poet Mick Imlah on King Solomon’s efforts to recollect and depict his “world of wives”—700 of them, not to mention the 300 concubines. (Poem)
Prenup: The New Ketubah Shlomo Brody, Jerusalem Post. The ketubah was the first prenuptial agreement, meant to ensure appropriate divorce settlements. The new "halakhic prenup" aims to supplement the ketubah—and solve the agunah problem.
Jesus Married? No Surprise Bernard Starr, Huffington Post. Avowed celibacy would be a more shocking discovery about Jesus and his Jewish followers than marriage.