Our Reform leaders sinned. Should we still sing songs they wrote? By Josh Katz, Forward Dec 3, 2021 This piece first appeared at the Forward. Reform synagogues across the nation are struggling to make sense of the damning report released earlier this month showing nearly unfettered patterns of unwanted sexual contact between male faculty and female students at Hebrew Union College over five decades. Released on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the report, conducted by… Read More
Opinion Fight like Judah Maccabee's sister for abortion rights This piece originally ran on TC Jewfolk. On the third day of Hanukkah, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health… By Beth Gendler, Rabbi Avi S. Olitzky Dec 2, 2021
First Person I went to this glitzy event expecting Hanukkah lights, but I got bubkes UPDATED Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. to reflect refund and apology offered by Filoli. I couldn’t wait to attend “Hanukkah Lights” at Filoli House and Gardens, an… By Emma Goss Dec 2, 2021
History This Hanukkah, celebrate the holiday’s forgotten heroes: Women The eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah commemorates ancient Jews’ victory over the powerful Seleucid empire, which ruled much of the Middle East from… By Alan Avery-Peck, The Conversation Dec 1, 2021
Opinion Celebrating the insurrection of Hanukkah in a year of insurrection What do Nov. 28 and Jan. 6, 2021, have in common? Both are dates connected to insurrection. Sunday, Nov. 28, was the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish… By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, RNS Nov 30, 2021
First Person How Stephen Sondheim helped me find my gay Jewish sensibility If I had to identify my first self-actualizing gay experience, it would be back in high school in the mid-1970s. A friend and I nervously got in the car… By Rabbi Irwin Keller Nov 30, 2021
Theater The last and greatest gift Stephen Sondheim gave us This piece first appeared at the Forward and is reprinted with permission. The thing about Stephen Sondheim is that there is almost nothing meaningful to… By Talya Zax, Forward Nov 29, 2021
Editorial From our archives: Newspapers of Thanksgivings past “The test of American unity is not that we should all believe, think and act alike, but that with our differences of tradition and outlook, we can still… By J. Editorial Board Nov 23, 2021
History How Thanksgiving helped Jews carve out a place in America Thanksgiving seems to have all the right ingredients for a holiday that most American Jews can embrace: It doesn’t fall on Shabbat, its roots and message… By Rabbi Yael Buechler, JTA Nov 22, 2021