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Rabbis Uncensored

Chanukah: Transforming It Into a 'Snow Day,' When Time Stands Still

By:

Miriam Peskowitz, JE Feature

You might think I'm here to tell you to give fewer presents this year. I am, after all, the author of books that remind us of the simple pleasures, and suggest what to do with baking soda from the pantry and white paper from the closet. Add that to the current economic climate, with nearly everyone still reeling from the...

Kvetch 'N Kvell

Letters week of Dec. 3, 2009

A Perfect Example That Health Care Does Work In "A Tough Way to Learn the Truth About U.S. Health Care" (Op-Ed, Nov. 25), Ira Forman describes his recent brush with mortality. After sustaining an apparent heart attack in a washroom at a fundraiser, he was transported to his choice of hospitals, where, as he recounts, within 70 minutes of arrival...

Columns

Movement Charts New Path for Modern Twists in the Road

By:

Steven C. Wernick

Leading an organization down a new path is both challenging and exhilarating. The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's new direction leads us to meet the needs of today's Conservative Jew. If we are to achieve our objectives, serve our member synagogues and help Conservative Jews flourish as Jews in this world, we must also redefine Conservative Judaism. Since July, when...

Columns

Heed the Pronouncement: 'The Wall Is for All'!

By:

Bonna Devora Haberman

Some ultra-Orthodox crowds in Jerusalem have adopted new modes of Shabbat observance -- stone-throwing outside the Intel plant, and cursing and havoc-wreaking at a parking lot in town. While many of us smell spices to soothe our souls at the departure of Shabbat, men and boys in black hats and jackets dump garbage into the streets and ignite a toxic...

Columns

Of Climate and Copenhagen: Now, the Jewish Response

By:

Mike Weilbacher

Last week, President Barack Obama dragged America kicking and screaming across a critical threshold, committing us to a 17 percent reduction in greenhouse gas levels by 2020. Forget for a moment that this is not an effective enough response; forget also what Congress might do to that number. Rather, let's rejoice that we have a leader who is stepping up...