A longside the holiness of place and person is the holiness of time, something parshat Emor charts in its deceptively simple list of festivals and holy days (Lev. 23:1-44). Time plays an … more

I have often wondered about the history of some of the foods that are commonly associated with Jewish cuisine. One thing I often wondered about when I was a kid was kugel. My grandmother made a … more

For decades, American Jewry has marked Yom Hashoah with the same rituals and rhetoric. They heard from survivors, whose numbers continue to dwindle and who bore witness about their horrific … more

In times of adversity, Jews respond in many ways, perhaps the most precious of which is humor. When the Soviet Union … more

The steep rise in antisemitism in the United States has reawakened the debate about whether the so-called “Golden Age” of American Jewry has run its historical course. It’s a … more

One of the most celebrated mitzvot of our parasha, Kedoshim, is “v’ahavta l’reicha kamocha (and you shall love your fellow Jew like yourself).” Rashi, citing the Midrash … more

I love visiting residences for senior citizens. For one thing, being around older people invariably helps me feel young by comparison. Recently, I was a weekend guest scholar at such a … more

The nineteenth chapter of Vayikra, with which our parsha begins, is one of the supreme statements of the ethics of the Torah. It’s about the right, the good and the holy, and it contains some … more

A few weeks ago, Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi at the Steven Wise Free Synagogue in New York, delivered a shocking sermon. Standing at his pulpit, Hirsch voiced a stern warning to … more

As Pesach holiday drew to a close, I wondered why I didn’t get to try out the 23 or 24 new Passover recipes I collected this year. Maybe next year. And once again I found myself thinking … more