Embedded in various rabbinic passages is a very basic principle, namely the force of the human element even in divinely given commandments. In Mishnat R. Eliezer (p. 266),1 for example, it is stated that the difference between the first tablets of the Ten Commandments and the second ones was that “in the first, the image […]
The most famous biblical account of a convert is that of Ruth, who followed her mother-in-law Naomi to the land of Israel. Ruth’s words are of transcendent beauty: “For whither you go I will go; and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
Welcoming Converts to the Jewish People Read More »
In Israel today, there are many synagogues that incorporate the names of women. Examples in Jerusalem include Ohel Rivka and Ohel Nehama in Kiryat Shmuel, Ohel Sarah in Meah She’arim and Bet Rahel in Knesset Israel. The association of synagogues with the names of women is not a new phenomenon and has deep historical roots
In the Cities of Judah and the Streets of Jerusalem… Read More »
One year ago, I spent a weekend in New York City’s Upper West Side with three friends. Shabbat morning presented a dilemma: I preferred a congregation with a mehitza, but my friends preferred an egalitarian service. We compromised on a synagogue with a mehitza, a Rabbanit, and hazzaniot for specific prayers. I sat with my
Emerging Voices: In Pursuit of Spirtuality: Looking for My Comfort Zone Read More »
One of the great debates during my engagement to a rabbi fifteen years ago was how I would be addressed by his congregation. I did not plan to change either my first or my last names after my wedding, but how would this decision be interpreted by my fiancé’s congregants? The world seemed clearly divided
And the Rebbetzin will Keep Her Name Read More »
As a young married woman (and I was young) in the Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn in the late 1960s, I do not recall going to funerals. Once a body was prepared for burial, there was a tradition of women wailing very loudly as the deceased was driven past the house to the synagogue where
Mourning Practices in the Syrian Jewish Community Read More »
As an active member in the Orthodox community at the University of Maryland for the past two and a half years, I have learned that college students have the chance to influence the culture of the college they attend and lend their voices to the decisionmaking process in the campus religious community in a way
Women, Shabbat, and the College Community Read More »
Everyone who observes Shabbat has had a moment when he or she really understood why Shabbat has been so vital to their lives. I certainly did. Though I grew up in a Shabbat-observant household, it was not until I was at university in England that I connected in a profoundly personal way with the peace
Shabbat and Rediscovering Community Read More »
In the recent Israeli documentary Ha-Modernim (“The Modern Ones”), filmmaker Cheli Rosenberg documents the lives of young unmarried residents of Jerusalem as they navigate romantic, social, and familial pressures. Quite appropriately, Rosenberg frames Ha-Modernim with evocative footage from an Erev Shabbat in Jerusalem, beginning and ending the film with the message that the experience of
Experimentation and Commitment: Shabbat on New York’s Upper West Side Read More »
My se’udah shlishit group was born about eight years ago on a long, summer Shabbat afternoon. My children were out and about, and I had already read, walked, and napped. I was restless. I had been reading a provocative book about the rabbinic treatment of women in the Talmud and I wanted to discuss it
Se’udah Shlishit in Denver Read More »
