Synagogue & Community
Pay to Pray?Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by Jack Wertheimer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the middle decades of the 20th century they were called "mushroom synagogues." They popped up in the waning days of summer to provide High Holiday services, then disappeared at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. Today, "mushroom synagogues" are once again in vogue—but with a critical difference.
Desperately Seeking S’lihotFriday, September 23, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There was a time, not so very long ago, when the Saturday night preceding Rosh Hashanah was the rough equivalent of the season's opening at the Met for opera enthusiasts.
Rosh Hashanah with the Chief RabbiTuesday, September 20, 2011 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ten years ago, the first day of Rosh Hashanah—the two-day Jewish New Year—fell on September 18. That was one week after September 11, 2001, when almost 3,000 people were killed by Muslim terrorists. On that Rosh Hashanah, rabbis did not lack for sermon topics.
Too Many Museums?Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Although the paint is still wet on Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History, an announcement has just been made of a planned National Museum of the Jewish People in Washington, D.C., steps from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and not far from two other Jewish museums.
The New Enemies of CircumcisionThursday, August 11, 2011 by Jon D. Levenson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Among the practices that have characterized the Jewish people over the millennia, surely none has been observed more widely, or more faithfully, than circumcision.
Reconstructing JudaismWednesday, August 3, 2011 by Joseph J. Siev | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
At a time when all three major Jewish denominations in America—Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform—find themselves in a state of deep internal fracture, a fourth and much smaller movement, Reconstructionism, has just voted to create a unified body to coordinate the activities of its lay and rabbinical arms.
Lives of the Ex-HaredimTuesday, August 2, 2011 by Joshua Halberstam | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
"Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Juliet calls out in pristine Yiddish from the heights of her fire escape. Melissa (Malky) Weisz, who plays Juliet in the recent film Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish, probably asked the same question in a more vernacular Yiddish—and with very different expectations—in her earlier life.
David Mamet’s HomecomingMonday, July 18, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A new book by the playwright, director, and author David Mamet is by definition a significant literary event—but to judge from its critical reception, The Secret Knowledge is not only a bad book but possibly an evil one. Why such heat?
The Reluctant RenegadeTuesday, July 12, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Since its founding, Conservative Judaism in the U.S. has defined itself in sharp contrast to Reform, pursuing a more religiously centrist and Zionist middle course. Its UK parallel, Masorti ("traditional") Judaism, was born as a secession movement from Orthodoxy—inspired by theologian Louis Jacobs.
What is Aggadah, and How to Read ItThursday, July 7, 2011 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Although the Talmud is best known for its discourse on religious law, its pages contain a vast amount of non-legal material, including ethical teachings, interpretations of biblical narratives (midrash), and excurses on topics from brain surgery to dream interpretation.
Editors' Picks
Extremism, Ideology, Reform Yair Ettinger, Haaretz. We hear a lot about the ultra-Orthodox community's fractious encounters with outsiders. But is this growing extremism a reaction to dramatic changes within ultra-Orthodoxy itself?
Bullies, Sluts, Bulimics . . . and Supreme Court Justices Shira Kohn, Lilith. Given the numbers of women involved over the decades, historians won't be able to ignore the Jewish sorority experience for much longer. (PDF)
The Limits of Secularism Jonathan Sacks, Standpoint. Isaiah Berlin didn't understand how the Chief Rabbi could have studied philosophy at Cambridge and Oxford and still have faith. "Isaiah," said Sacks, "if it helps, think of me as a lapsed heretic."
Jewish Jamaica, Then and Now Paul Foer, eJewish Philanthropy. Jews have been in Jamaica for centuries, and a Kingston congregation has just engaged its first full-time rabbi in 40 years. He'll do services, classes, and conversions. He's also a scuba diver.
Wrong Assumptions Jack Wertheimer, Jewish Week. A new report on intermarriage provides no evidence that the supposed cold shoulder that intermarried families receive is the cause of their staggeringly high rates of non-affiliation.
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)
Identity Cleft James Hyman, eJewish Philanthropy. While Israeli Jews are fully enveloped in a Jewish identity which embraces religion, culture, education, land, and history, American Jews have a much more limited self-definition.
Something Rotten? Fred MacDowell, On the Main Line. A visitor to Denmark describes the local Jewish community's struggles over mixed seating, kosher butter, and carrying umbrellas on Shabbat. The year? 1909.
Changing Jewish Liturgy Aryeh A. Frimer, Torah Musings. Over the millennia, changes to Jewish prayers have been introduced by printing errors, or forced upon Jews by censors. Now, changes are proposed to correct an "androcentric bias."
The Ger Mandolin Orchestra Agence France Presse. The red brick walls of a Polish synagogue are reverberating anew with the music of a Jewish band that played there in the 1930's. (Watch video here.)