Synagogue & Community
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.
The Tish and the Thanksgiving TableWednesday, November 21, 2012 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a scene in Avalon, Barry Levinson’s cinematic memoir of growing up in Baltimore with his Yiddish-speaking immigrant parents, Uncle Gabriel Krichinsky, brilliantly played by Lou Jacobi, arrives—late, as usual—for the extended Krichinsky family’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
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.
Can Reform Judaism Get Its Mojo Back?Friday, November 9, 2012 by Evan Moffic | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The American Jewish community as a whole cannot survive if there is no non-Orthodox movement to which American Jews can belong; in other words, survival depends on a strong Reform movement. But in light of current trends, is that possible?
Return to FuldaTuesday, September 11, 2012 by Kenneth R. Weinstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Once my son Harry’s bar mitzvah teacher told him he was ready to read Torah and Haftarah fluently anywhere in the world, Harry decided that after his bar mitzvah in Washington, D.C. he would have a second bar mitzvah in Fulda, Germany.
Yeshiva RevolutionFriday, September 7, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Shaul Stampfer, one of Israel's foremost experts on Eastern European Jewry, is the most unlikely of iconoclasts. A thin, quiet, unassuming man, he gives the impression that he would have been happy as a simple melamed (elementary school teacher) in the shtetls he describes.
Are Day School Vouchers the Answer?Tuesday, August 28, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Is Jewish education a parental or communal responsibility? The privately funded heder, with its melamed, or tutor, emphasizes the parental aspect. The publicly maintained talmud torah, or congregational school, emphasizes the communal obligation.
New York Jews: Growing in Numbers, Growing ApartThursday, July 5, 2012 by Leslie Lenkowsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ever since the first 23 Jewish settlers arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654, New York City has been the economic, cultural, religious and, not least, demographic center of Jewish life in North America.
Englishing the TalmudTuesday, June 26, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
According to a rabbinic tradition recorded in the Talmud (Shabbat 12b), God’s angels do not understand the Aramaic language in which the Talmud itself is mainly composed. As many a modern reader can testify, they’re hardly alone.
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!"
Editors' Picks
God's New Home Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Cardozo Academy. "Synagogues are no longer His primary residence. He is moving in with the young people who have a sense that He is there but cannot yet find Him."
Liturgy of Leadership Mishael Zion, eJewish Philanthropy. While only the cantor for Mussaf on the High Holidays recites Hineni, declaring his unworthiness to represent the congregation before God, the prayer contains lessons for all leaders.
Shanah Tovah from the Muslim Brotherhood Lee Smith, Tablet. Egypt has denied entry to the rabbi who normally conducts High Holiday services for Alexandria’s Jewish community. For the first time in 2,300 years, there is no minyan.
The Maestro and the Maestro Jon Kalish, Forward. Few outside the cantorial world know Yitzhak Meir Helfgot. But when famed violinist Itzhak Perlman listens to him, he gets goose bumps.
"Rabbi, do we Jews believe in reincarnation?" Hyim Shafner, Institute for Jewish Ideas. "Knowing full well that much of Kabbalah, philosophy, and even Midrash does accept the notion of reincarnation, I tried to muster a definitive 'No!'"
Reform Has Mandate to Change Rick Jacobs, Presidential Installation Sermon, Union for Reform Judaism. "Come survive with us" is hardly an inspiring call to Jewish commitment. We can do better.
We Failed Zuckerberg Dana Evan Kaplan, Forward. A Reform rabbi argues that his movement's pluralistic theology is to blame for the detachment of young Jews from their faith.
The Benefactors of Breslau Malgorzata Stolarska-Fronia, H-Net. A new book cataloging Jewish welfare institutions in Breslau, Germany (now Poland) shows how philanthropy was central to the cultural exchange that followed the Emancipation.
For Better or for Purse Michael J. Broyde, Jewish Press. The "Halakhic Prenup" is a real solution to the agunah problem. Now it needs to be adopted beyond Modern Orthodoxy.
The Hermeneutics of Hasidism Zackary Sholem Berger, Tablet. Although writers who reject the Hasidic world capture public attention, the really interesting literature comes from writers who struggle with Hasidism but love it too much to leave.