“Amen” is a statement of assent or affirmation in response to a prayer, blessing or good wishes (at times even a curse – see Deuteronomy 27). The Prophet Isaiah uses “Amen” as synonymous with “truth”...
Chanukah and Purim are often paired together as a “matched set.” Both are minor holidays. Both celebrate the deliverance of the Jewish People from tyranny and persecution. Both are celebrated with variations of the prayer...
Esteem for dissenters and minority opinions has featured prominently in Jewish tradition from the earliest moments of our history. The first Patriarch of Israel was Avraham Ha-Ivri – Abraham, the Hebrew (Genesis 14:13).
The Torah states that “the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the Earth” (Numbers 12:3). The academic journal “Current Directions in Psychological Science” reports on a recent...
“Dry Bones,” the graphic commentary of political cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen, has appeared in the Jerusalem Post since 1973. “Dry Bones” lightheartedly explores Jewish identity, religious and communal life, Israeli and global politics, and the Jewish...
Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, known as the Chofetz Chayim (the title of his first book), is one of the seminal rabbis of the twentieth century… perhaps the most renowned of all rabbinic ethicists. His final...
To King Solomon is attributed the dual counsel, “Don’t overdo goodness… Don’t overdo wickedness” (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17, JPS translation). The virtue of moderation is here written into the moral vision of the wisest of men!
A critical element of keeping Kosher is the separation of meat and dairy products. Based on the verse “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 23:19, 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21), we do...
“You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14). The Torah’s dual prohibition beckons us to empathy for the vulnerable. We must not take advantage of those with...
Music – including song, chant, and cantillation – plays a central and cherished role in Jewish spirituality… both in congregational and communal worship, as well as in more intimate settings, such as the Sabbath table,...
