fbpx
Category

religious

Second-class Conservative citizens

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 this teshuvah, or legal interpretation, was one of two that received a majority vote, I know that this helps some of my gay \”friends and family\” squeeze sideways through the now partially open door. I nevertheless remain sad and disappointed that the door has only opened a little, and the idea that it is a qualified acceptance is troubling to me.

Dr. Freud at 150

Freud famously called dreams \”the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious.\” And his own dreams and their analysis revealed to him a whirl of conflicts around his Jewish identity.

Rice Weaves Rich Tale of a Young Jesus

Often pictured in Christian iconography as solitary figures, lost in a unique and incommunicable holiness, Rice\’s \”holy family\” of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, by contrast, is part of a large, boisterous, affectionate Jewish clan, living a full, observant Jewish life together, full of rituals and prayers and the rhythm of the holy day feasts.

Immeasurable Faith

Perhaps there was a time when the secular/religious divide — it is of the Jews I write — made sense. In Eastern and Central Europe from 1850 to 1930, it may have been the case that seculars Jews were genuinely secular, as some few remain today.

Reach Out and Touch Faith

When Elizabeth Cobrin goes to Israel this winter break with Birthright Israel, she and her friends have devised a plan to find each other when participants in all the different Birthright trips get together.

Maccabee Meaning Changes With Time

Ironically, the Chanukah story, with its many tellings, preserves those nuances better than almost any other holiday in Jewish tradition. It celebrates a variety of ways to be Jewish — ways which have changed through the generations, the challenges and the times.

Aspirations and Anxiety in America

In the late 1970s, a time when Jews in the United States had arguably achieved more status and social acceptance than in any previous era of their long Diaspora, American Jewish groups began work on a project that culminated in 1993 with the dedication of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Two Educators Earn Honors

Barry Koff earned a state teaching credential and completed a master\’s degree in Jewish education through Chicago\’s Spertus College. Yet his first career as an on-air radio broadcaster comes through in his classroom.

A Dramatist’s Own Private Afghanistan

\”Homebody/Kabul\” is very much about people trying to erase their pasts through encounters with those who are different from them. Whether British or Afghan, Christian or Muslim, all the characters have a history created by colonialism that informs their present struggles.

Opening a Window

Thousands of Israeli students are learning what it means to be good Jews.

New Articles

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.