Shabbat
Raider of the Lost KnishWednesday, January 30, 2013 by Laura Silver | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
More than Hebrew School, a Torah scroll or the eternal light in the synagogue, the knish provided sanctuary. It encapsulated my identity: ethnic, funny, and grounded in the past.
Gun Control, Halakhah, and History: Further ThoughtsTuesday, January 22, 2013 by Shlomo M. Brody | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
While the use of weaponry is at times morally necessary, the glorification of weaponry is foreign to Jewish thought.
Warfare on Shabbat: The Legacy of the MaccabeesFriday, December 14, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ezra and Nehemiah were so successful in instilling Shabbat observance that Jews refused to take up arms on Shabbat to defend themselves—with disastrous results.
Clothes Make the ManFriday, December 7, 2012 by Chaim Saiman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The recent daf yomi Shabbat 63 appears to present just the technicalities of what can and cannot be transported on Shabbat. Yet it is simultaneously an exploration of war, peace, and the nature of manhood.
Keep Calm and Carry OnTuesday, November 13, 2012 by Dov Lerner | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Shabbat is designed to be a day of rest and communal prayer. But due to halakhic restrictions on their carrying items from one place to another, observant Jews can become prisoners in their own homes.
The Brain Death WarsThursday, September 13, 2012 by Shlomo Zuckier | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When does a human life end? A 2010 monograph by a rabbinic body, a recent book by an independent scholar, and a forthcoming book by another rabbinic organization are the most recent entries in what is among the most discussed halakhic debates of recent times.
The Month of ReturnTuesday, August 14, 2012 by Tevi Troy and Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Jewish month of Av will soon become Ellul, and mourning for the destruction of the Temples will give way to repentance for our sins. It is time for introspection; and, as we contemplate our relationships with others and with the Divine, questions about penitence, forgiveness, change, and mortality itself inevitably arise.
Sleepless on ShavuotThursday, May 24, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Two practices long associated with Shavuot, the "time of the revelation of the Law" (z'man matan Torateinu), are the enrolling of children in religious school and the marathon all-night study vigil (tikkun leyl Shavuot).
Heschel in Yiddish and HebrewWednesday, March 14, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Standing at Sinai, "All the people were seeing the thunder" (Exodus 20:15), seeing the sounds. The word "revelation" would be somewhat misleading, since nothing was unveiled: The mountain was wreathed in cloud and smoke.
America’s Holy Haunted HousesMonday, October 31, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Halloween is most certainly no Jewish holiday; yet its spooky mood is curiously congruent with the ambience that overcomes American synagogues this time of year.
Editors' Picks
Hanukkah Musings Gil Student, Ari Enkin, Torah Musings. From whether a convert can recite the Al ha-Nisim blessing to how to eat a donut, here are the answers to Hanukkah questions you never thought to ask. (E-book)
eShabbat? Daniel Nevins, Jewish Week. “I understand melakhah to be about transforming material. [An e-reader] tracks usage . . . and therefore involves a transformation of material reality.” (Interview by Jason Miller)
Never on Saturday Tevi Troy, Washington Jewish Week. "During the Katrina disaster, President Bush declared to his senior staff that there would be no weekend . . . As a Sabbath observer, I wondered what to do."
There's a Key in My Challah! Jeffrey Saks, Torah Musings. Does the post-Passover tradition known as "shliss challah" derive from symbolic readings of the season's texts—or, rather, is it a Christian symbol of Jesus rising in the dough?
Sha-bot Gil Student, Torah Musings. Can a robot be a Shabbos goy? The question is not simple, but it is not without Talmudic precedent.
Choose Your Poison Philologos, Forward. Why do some say l'chaim when blessing wine: to confirm that the drink hasn't been poisoned, to dispel grim associations, or simply to make sure that all present are ready for the blessing?
Faith is Not Quite the Word Martha Himmelfarb, Daily Princetonian. The scholar of religion talks about Israel, interreligious friendship, trends in American Judaism, and her own practice, including saying kaddish for her father, sociographer Milton Himmelfarb. (Interview by Robert George)
“The Stamp of My Jewish Existence” Milken Archive of Jewish Music. Born August 18, 1910, Herman Berlinski was a prolific composer of sacred music whose masterworks include a complete setting of the (Reform) Friday-evening service. (With audio and video.)
Missing Ingredient Gil Student, Torah Musings. If Jewish theology is whatever Jews happen to be thinking about religion, then it is idiosyncratic and meaningless; so how should it be defined?
Heart to Heart Hart Levine, Jewish Week. An undergraduate Jewish "insider" who devised a means of bringing Jewish "outsiders" in has seen his model adopted at eighteen college campuses.