Judaism

Torah

Blessing the People With Love and Joy

Local

Does Birthright Stifle Teen Travel?

Shavuot

Synagogues Celebrate New Arrivals

A Modern Passover Exodus in African Mali

By:

Jake Asher, Jewish Exponent Feature

I have always thought of Passover as a unique and special holiday because we are commanded not just to read the story of our ancestors' plight, but also to symbolically re-enact the story as if we had been there ourselves. This year, however, the Passover story took on a more literal significance as eight other Jews and I held our...

Torah

Rich and Seductive Text Adds Meaning to Pesach

Song of Songs

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

As Passover concludes, we may feel quite full. We may have gathered around several tables and shared varied Passover meals. And we may have studied some of the texts of this holiday: the Haggadah, one of the most beloved and re-edited, re-printed and elaborated of Jewish texts, and the various Torah portions assigned to this holiday. One of the most...

Learning

Making Hebrew School Accessible

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Jackie Bobrin doubted her 8-year-old son Ethan would be able to attend religious school. "Regular" life was difficult enough with the behaviors his doctors attributed to a possible combination of Attention Deficit Disorder, Asberger's and bipolar disorder, she said. What synagogue would have the interest -- or resources -- to give him the extra attention he needed? Surprisingly, the Bryn...

Columns

Feeling the Existential Importance Inherent in the Seder

By:

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

The Exodus narrative -- so central to our Passover seder -- also informs our social consciousness as a people. The Bible teaches in very strong words, v'ahavtem et ha'ger, you must love the stranger, the other, the individual who is the underdog in whatever society you happen to find yourself, ki gerim hayitem b'eretz Mitzrayim, because you were the other,...

Jewish Federation

Capacity Crowd for JEVS Women's Seder

By:

Lynn B. Edelman, Jewish Federation Feature

Sister Mary Scullion told a capacity crowd of 139 participants at the 7th annual Women's Seder sponsored by JEVS Human Services that the Passover story is universal and relevant to contemporary audiences. Scullion, co-founder of Project H.O.M.E., a non-profit organization that serves chronically homeless men and women in Philadelphia, emphasized that the exodus is ongoing for thousands of men and...