The beginning of our parasha, Emor, focuses upon a variety of laws that pertain solely to the kohanim. From a halachic perspective, they have little to do with the majority of the Jewish people, as … more

It was our first masah , our first forced march. We were barely two weeks in the army and Itzik, a sadistic little first sergeant who had made it his mission to break us into soldiers, owned us for … more

This week’s book, “The Accidental Zionist” by Rabbi Ian Pear (New Song Publishers, 2008) is an informal, somewhat irreverent book, zany at times about subjects that are dead … more

Dead. Unburied. Abandoned. Forgotten. What can be a worse fate? I once read a very moving novel about the events immediately preceding World War I and the fate of those who were caught up in the … more

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

Rikki Ash (pictured) has always known her beloved grandfather was a special person. She knew that he had lived a life of purpose and made every day count. In her new … 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