On wearing grandpa’s tefillin at the Wall

Published on May 10, 2013

It’s just before 7 a.m. when I arrive at Kotel Plaza security station to find long lines. My son Andy gets into the swiftly moving line for men. I enter the longer, slowly moving line for women. Andy carries the cloth bag containing our things. I try reaching to remove mine, but Andy stops me.

Women praying to be heard at the Western Wall

By Rabbi Laura Geller
Published on December 19, 2012

We approached the entrance to the Kotel Plaza a little before 7 a.m. on Rosh Hodesh Tevet. In my bag was my tallit, the beautiful purple-and-blue one that was hand woven as a gift from the students and faculty at USC more than 20 years ago, when I completed my time there as the Hillel rabbi.

Missing Florida millionaire left tefillin on abandoned boat

Published on September 4, 2012

Guma Aguiar, a Florida businessman and philanthropist who went missing in June, left his tefillin on his abandoned boat.

Praying with Compassion: Time for Vegan Tefillin!

By Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Published on June 24, 2012

Alaska Airlines detains passengers over tefillin

Published on March 14, 2011

An Alaska Airlines flight crew issued a security alert after three Mexican Orthodox Jews began praying with tefillin. The flight attendants, who were concerned by the prayers being said aloud in Hebrew and the unfamiliar boxes with leather straps hanging from them, locked down the cockpit and radioed a security alert ahead to Los Angeles International Airport.

Tefillin cause bomb scare on New Zealand ferry

Published on December 13, 2010

An Israeli putting on tefillin set off a bomb scare on a New Zealand ferry.

Head games: Jordanians tell Israelis to keep out kipot

Published on October 28, 2010

Israelis have been asked to leave their yarmulkes at the border when entering Jordan, an Israeli news site reported.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah - A Postmodern Coming-of-Age Guide

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on May 11, 2006

When a book on bar mitzvah opens with a poem by Rudyard Kipling and a quote from French ethical philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, it's clearly not your usual bar mitzvah book, of which there are many.

Divine Protection

By Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Published on January 13, 2005

As the train pulled into the Iraqi border police station, the lanky Jewish boy at the window became more and more nervous. The bulging package under his robes felt heavy like lead.

Community Briefs

Published on January 29, 2004

Bet Tzedek has won a significant victory for low-paid Latino and Asian garment workers, successors to the Jewish immigrants who labored in sweatshops a century ago. The settlement, reached by the free legal counseling service, is somewhat technical, but is likely to have a major impact on California's $22 billion apparel industry, employing 140,000 workers.

Super Bowl Wrap

By Julie G Fax
Published on January 18, 2001

You know that strange window of time Sunday morning before the Super Bowl starts, when you don't want to start anything that won't be finished by kickoff, but you've still got to find something to do? Sinai Temple, nearly a dozen other local Conservative men's clubs and the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs have an idea: try joining 10,000 others who will be wrapping tefillin.