Jewish Perspective
The Small Voice Of Moderation in Bet Shemesh
In The Year Of The Protester, we used the hashtag and we mimed the slogan to great effect. But real change takes more than a slogan. It takes dialog. It takes understanding.... Read More »
Jewish Relativity, Revisited
Fellow Jewneric blogger, Joshua Einstein, writes about a common argument made by Jewish outreach organizations: “the secular world is morally relative and adrift” and only religion provides “moral constancy”. Josh... Read More »
Jewish Relativity
Religious leaders often posit that the secular world is morally relative and adrift. The changing and metastasizing values of the larger world are no doubt foreboding and challenging but it... Read More »
Jew in the City wonders…do God and science have chemistry?
“I couldn’t help but wonder…” Sound familiar? It may be Carrie’s popular phrase of wonderment on Sex and the City, but way before the popular series hit HBO, Allison Josephs... Read More »
Free Gilad, Finally
For 1935 days, Noam and Aviva Shalit have lived in a state of uncertainty, fighting for their son who languished in Hamas captivity. For 1935 days, the government of the... Read More »
Is Blogging Good for the Jews?
Two weeks ago I received a number of frantic phone calls and messages. A well-trafficked Jewish blog published a story that was factually untrue. The ignorance and hatred in the... Read More »
Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic in Retrospect, Part III: Bad Timing
This week, let’s attack something a little more mundane: scheduling of the school day Read More »
Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic in Retrospect, Part II: No Literature Created Equal
An Analysis of the Clashes Between Judaic and Secular Studies in the Jewish Day School Read More »
“Acts” of Charity
At a small shul in an affluent neighborhood in Chicago there is a battered silver tzidakah box that sits in the main sanctuary Read More »
Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic in Retrospect, Part I: Introduction
An Analysis of the Clashes Between Judaic and Secular Studies in the Jewish Day School Read More »
The Symbolism of a Diamond Dreidel
Last Monday, Mervis Diamond Importers unveiled the world first ever Diamond Dreidel. When I saw this piece of Judaica, I first thought about what a Dreidel meant to me, followed... Read More »
Washington Jewish Federation Closes Its Doors on Fridays
In what must have been a very difficult yet ultimately responsible decision, the Greater Washington Jewish Federation has announced that it will be officially closing its offices each Friday starting... Read More »
Who Hates Who?
The following is a letter to the editor of an imaginary paper that would only be read by people who understand that I mean well, and who know that I... Read More »
An Olah Without a Parachute XII
There is a war going on in our country. Fathers, brothers, sons, cousins and friends are leaving their families to go fight this war. The people left behind remain worried,... Read More »
Bad Karma?
Is it possible that even when you do the right thing it will bring you negative consequences? Imagine that your Aunt walks into the room, this is the first time... Read More »
An Olah Without A Parachute: Chanukah edition
Happy Chanukah!! It is really such a delight to walk down the streets in Israel and see all the lit menorot that the municipality puts up. There are shining chanukiot... Read More »
Not your parents’ Israeli cuisine…
I have visited Israel three times, all within the past five years. Friends and family who visited Israel many more years ago have related stories of the country from days... Read More »
Another Israeli Take on the Upcoming U.S. Elections
I just received my absentee ballot for the upcoming U.S. elections in the mail and I’m psyched. Yes, I know that some critics will question whether an American living outside... Read More »
The issues
In the upcoming election, we have two very qualified choices for President. John McCain has been a government servant for 26 years, and nobody can deny his heroism in Vietnam.... Read More »
“Jewish Mother for Obama”: First Video from Orthodox Community to Refute Anti-Obama Rumors
Janette Hillis-Jaffe, An Orthodox Jewish supporter of Senator Barack Obama who lived in Israel for five years, has released a ground-breaking video (www.JewsObamaIsrael.com) encouraging other Jews who love Israel to... Read More »
