Judaism

Torah

Why Did the People Complain Over Manna?

Newsmakers

West Philly Rabbi Gives Benediction at Prayer Breakfast

Local

Does Birthright Stifle Teen Travel?

Torah

The Opposite of Slavery Is Freedom of Naming

SHEMOT, Exodus 1:1-6:1

By:

Rabbi Danielle Stillman

This Shabbat, we begin the book of Exodus -- Shemot or "Names" in Hebrew. Exodus is filled with drama: Moses demands freedom from Pharaoh, the people cross the sea against all odds, celebrating their freedom on the other side. But these events occur later. Shemot begins in a smaller way, as its title suggests, with names. It begins by naming...

Local

Spinning to Set a Record Fills Room With Ruach

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Chanukah may be over, but the dreidel counting continues. An official at the Guinness Book of World Records said it will take weeks to verfy whether a massive group of Conservative movement teens succeeded in their attempt to set a new dreidel-spinning record. Last week, the buzz of more than 800 students at the annual United Synagogue Youth international convention...

Torah

Even Everyday Moments Have Special Meaning

By:

Rabbi Adam Zeff

VAYEHI, Genesis 47:28-50:26 In this week's Torah reading, we reach the end of the book of Genesis, the book of the Bible that more than any other is filled with absorbing stories that we treasure, from the seven days of creation to Noah's ark, from Abraham and Isaac's encounter with the ram at the top of Mt. Moriah to Jacob...

Torah

Reaching Beyond Your Pain Can Bring Healing

VAYIGASH, Genesis 44:18-47:27

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

After weeks of immersion in the story of Joseph and his brothers, we arrive at the penultimate portion in this cycle. We have followed Joseph's rising fortune as his father's favorite, and his descent after being thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers. Rescued, he is elevated to a position of trust by Potiphar, only to be cast down...

Chanukah

Hoping for a 'Jewmas' Miracle

By:

Deborah Hirsch

A techno hora remixed with "Jingle Bells," and sampled with the refrain, "I can't dance, I'm too Jewish," blared over a mass of revelers at Public House in Center City -- an aptly cheeky sound byte for an annual Jewish party on Christmas Eve.