Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Turning 60

By Rabbi Anne Brener

I have learned that finding peace is more important than being right, but that I can't make peace with someone who doesn't see me, nor they with me. . .

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Dad’s drive

By Susan Freudenheim

Dad has always been reaching -- not just to satisfy himself, but also to prove himself to the big guys, the great newspaper people in his head who. . .

Thursday, May 8, 2008

From generation to generation

By Arthur Cohn

For 40 years, my grandfather`Arthur Cohn held the office of chief rabbi of Basel, a city to which he had come at the age of 23. Although unwavering. . .

Thursday, September 27, 2007

On Second Thought

By Joshua Metzger

This week, I will sit on my porch, gaze at the pergola and see in its place a bamboo mat. I will remind myself of the biblical commandment, "in a. . .

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Christmas in Sukkot?

By Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein

Last year we moved into a home large enough to build the sukkah we've been dreaming of for a long time.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

One man’s sukkah is another man’s shack

By Jacob Neusner

Vast slums perch precariously in the hills overlooking Rio de Janeiro, each made up of thousands of sukkot -- flimsy shacks in which people live

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Who needs law school? Just marry a lawyer!

By Jane Ulman

First, let me say that by the time I announced to my family that I was actually getting married, at the already questionable child-bearing age of 34,. . .

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Healing community rises from life-threatening illness

By Charlotte Hildebrand

One out of eight women develop the disease over a lifetime, and the older a woman is, the higher her risk.To make matters worse, Jewish women have a. . .

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Second-class Conservative citizens

By Jeff Bernhardt

Honestly, I'm glad that the recent vote of the Conservative movement has opened the door a bit toward acceptance of gay and lesbian Jews. Now that. . .

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Kashrut: The things we do for love

By Eileen Horowitz

I have been passionate about Jewish education for two decades: When I worked in the public and private secular worlds of elementary education, I. . .

Thursday, November 9, 2006

And Get Thee Out: Jews and Hollywood

By Larry Miller

Rob Eshman, whom I admire a lot, and who argued strenuously -- even pleaded -- for his name not to be mentioned in this (but clearly lost), was nice. . .

Thursday, October 19, 2006

51 Birch Street: House of Blocks . . . House of Cards?

By Anita K. Kantrowitz

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Faithful, happily ever after, right?

By Amy Klein

Does everyone cheat? Surely I've been living in a sheltered world. Where I come from infidelity is the rare exception to the rule; and yet, in the. . .

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Rabbi Carron brightens prisoners’ darkest days

By Nick Street

With any luck, Daniel will be spending Rosh Hashanah on the outside. It's likely he'll soon be making the transition from jail to the recovery. . .

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Social Action Groups Fight for Cleaning Ladies’ Rights

By Alice Alexiou

When Jews hire people to do household jobs -- anybody who cleans, cooks, does the laundry, cares for children or elderly parents -- we are the ones. . .

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Public Reactions Are Strong to A Personal Journey

By Orit Arfa

Los Angeles photographer Naomi Solomon capped off her informal summer presentation series "Settlers: A Photographic Journey of the Life and. . .

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Will They Ever Understand an Israeli’s Mind-Set?

By Shira Kaplan

I am lying in my Tel Aviv bed long after midnight, soaking my pillow with tears. My cries are echoing in the house. My folks are fast asleep. The. . .

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Look for the Overlooked

By Rachel Sisk

For years I've been affiliated with organizations, given charitably and attended synagogue regularly. But after years of knowing and benefiting from. . .

Thursday, August 10, 2006

A Mind-Opening Experience

By Ezra Werb

Last fall, I started working with Franklin, a 7-year-old autistic boy. My job was to help shape the child's behavioral and social patterns, promoting. . .

Friday, August 4, 2006

We’d All Rather Be in Venice

By Ellen Switkes

It's been two years this week since my mother, Betty Switkes, died, and we still haven't had the unveiling. Jewish custom dictates that you unveil. . .

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Saying Goodbye to Mom

By Ellie Kahn

For the past six years, my mother's often challenging journey and our evolving relationship have inspired much of the writing in my column. Although. . .

Thursday, July 27, 2006

The IDF and Civilians:  A Personal Account

By Rabbi Daniel Bouskila

It was July 12, 1984, my first day on the Ketziot basic training base, my new "home" as an IDF soldier in the Givati Infantry Brigade. One by one, we. . .

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Thrown For A Loop

By Avi Liberman

Looping is plugging in background sound for movies after they are shot so they sound more realistic. I had done some looping sessions before, but. . .

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Abnormal Normality Rules

By Tom Tugend

My concerned daughter in Los Angeles called me in Israel last weekend, shortly before my trip back home after a vacation there. I told her,. . .