Judaism

Local

Death as a Constant Part of Life

Torah

Is Golan Heights Part of Holy Land?

Arts

Hidden City Festival Reveals Revitalization of 'Little Shul'

Columns

What Do We Want for Israel, Now and in the Future?

By:

Robert S. Wistrich

This year, Tisha B'Av once again reminded us of the dangers of "gratuitous hatred" without rhyme or reason for one's fellow Jews; the kind of hatred for its own sake, which seems more recently to have become part of our everyday Israeli reality. While divisions between Orthodox and secular Jews, or the bitter antagonism toward settlers in the West Bank,...

Torah

How We Can Translate Riches of What We Have

VA'ET HANAN, Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

Parashat Va'et Hanan opens as Moses shares his plaintive request to the Holy One to be allowed to enter the promised land with the people he has shepherded. "O Lord," he cries, "Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan." God's reply is immediate and direct: "But the Holy One...

Global

They Link Lands and Faiths

By:

Aaron Passman, JE Feature

Thousands of miles of ocean and the better part of a continent separate Philadelphia from Kampala, Uganda, but for two individuals of different faiths, Israel has provided a way to bridge that considerable gap. Andrea Gottlieb of Merion serves as director of Jerusalem Online University -- a New York-based, online learning program with offices in Philadelphia and Jerusalem. For the...

Torah

Listen to the 'Words': They Come From Below

DeVarim, Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22

By:

Rabbi Joshua Runyan

Among the books of the Torah, only this one begins by attributing its subject matter to Moses: "These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel." This week's portion actually begins Moses' final speech, his farewell before handing power over to Joshua, who'll take the Jewish people into the Holy Land. But if the Torah is Divinely authored, doesn't...

Synagogue Life

Finding the Path to Inclusion for Intermarrieds

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

Just a few months ago, InterFaithways seemed like the next big thing. The one outlet in the region devoted exclusively to helping interfaith families feel more welcome in the community had secured prior funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. With the release of the 2009 "Jewish Population Study of Greater Philadelphia" -- and its startling statistics on intermarriage...