Religious Communities
Going HomeWednesday, May 8, 2013 by Judah Bellin | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In his new book, Rod Dreher insists that communities are difficult to forge in America’s largest cities. But for traditional Jews, the demands of modern capitalism and community are not as incommensurate as Dreher assumes.
The New Jewish LeadersFriday, April 5, 2013 by Hal M. Lewis | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Distinguished scholars profile the new generation of American Jewish leaders, from the ages of 22 to 40, and ask how they differ from the leaders of the generation past. But who counts as a Jewish leader?
The OutliersFriday, March 29, 2013 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Bukharan Jews are often viewed as a group of isolated exotics. In fact, they are not so different that there has ever been much question about their belonging to the Jewish people.
Fresh-Baked Matzah and the Spirit of CapitalismTuesday, March 19, 2013 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Small-scale matzah bakeries in Israel are enabling people to fulfil the mitzvah of baking matzah—and strengthening communities.
The Daily Page: A “Siyum”-posiumThursday, August 2, 2012 by Jacob J. Schacter, Yoel Finkelman, Michael Carasik, Tzvi H. Weinreb, Devora Steinmetz, Moshe Sokolow, Yehudah Mirsky, Mark Gottlieb, David Glasner, Aryeh Tepper, Marc B. Shapiro, Gil Student, Emanuel Feldman, Alon Shalev, Viva Hammer, Shlomo Zuckier, and Saul J. Berman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
UPDATE: New posts as of 8/3/12, 1:11 a.m.
The Chained WifeThursday, June 14, 2012 by Micah Stein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Yafa Friedman lives in a modest, two-story townhouse in Brooklyn. This past Sunday, the shades were drawn as a group of 30 protestors marched outside the house chanting, "Yafa Friedman—stop the abuse!"
The Lower Lower East SideFriday, June 1, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What most American Jews know about New York's Lower East Side comes from books like Irving Howe's World of our Fathers. But I was born and raised in the neighborhood at a time when there were still pushcarts along Avenue C . . .
The Mona Lisa of ViennaWednesday, May 30, 2012 by Susan Hertog | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In 1857, when Emperor Franz-Joseph pulled down the ancient stone wall encompassing Vienna, the social and cultural traditions of the country seemed to tumble with it. Impoverished immigrants, many of them Jews, flooded in from the east.
Abuse Among the Orthodox: Bad News, Good NewsMonday, May 21, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
First, the bad news: Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse occurs in Orthodox Jewish communities. Next, the worse news: Two recent New York Times stories are just the latest piece of evidence that Orthodox communities are often in denial and worse.
Either/OrthodoxyTuesday, May 15, 2012 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Belying the regimented connotation of the word "orthodox," Orthodox Judaism is by far the most diverse stream of Judaism, encompassing such incompatible types as rationalists and mystics, West Bank settlers and peaceniks, college professors and obscurantists, feminists and male chauvinists.
Editors' Picks
What the New Atheists Ignore Christopher Orlet, American Spectator. "I am still waiting for a single atheist group to open a hospital or school, offer free health clinics, beds for the homeless, food for the hungry, or transportation for the elderly."
Smiling on Yom Hashoah Chaim Steinmetz, Times of Israel. On Holocaust survivors at a Montreal memorial service: “Here they are, 68 years later, with their grandchildren. They have rebuilt their families and made profound contributions to our community.”
A Contract Is a Contract Michael Helfand, Center on Law and Religion. A Connecticut state court has ruled that it may enforce the support provisions of an Orthodox prenuptial agreement without intruding on First Amendment religious protections.
Mimouna: Gold and Leavened Bread Ari Enkin, Hirhurim. The traditional post-Pesach celebration by Moroccan Jews may commemorate Maimonides’ father—or the Egyptian gold that washed up on the shore of the Red Sea.
Historic Damascus Synagogue Looted and Destroyed Yoel Goldman, Times of Israel. It is an unsurprising tragedy: The Jobar Synagogue, 2,000 years old, has been burned to the ground. The rebels blame the government. The government blames rebels and Zionist agents.
Somewhere in Africa Curt Brown, Star Tribune. The British tried to convert them to Christianity; Idi Amin forced many to become Muslims. But Uganda’s Jews, though dating back no further than the 20th century, are unmistakably Jewish.
When Community Is Not Enough Peter Berger, American Interest. "Religion offers something much more central than community in the abstract: It offers a community gathered around the message that... nothingness is not the final destiny of the universe."
O Pioneers! Bentzi Epstein, Klal Perspectives. In 1992, four observant Jewish families migrated to Dallas in a bid to lay the foundations of a Torah community. Twenty years later, they have done just that.
Rav Ovadia’s Revolution , Menachem Mendel. “Like Coca-Cola, l’havdil”: A video documentary on the idiosyncratic, infuriating genius of the Baghdadi gaon and the transformation of Sephardic Jewry in Israel.
A New Lease on Life Winnie Hu, New York Times. From the Bronx to New Orleans, struggling synagogues have come up with a new way to survive: They pay Jewish families to move into the neighborhood.