Judaism

Torah

Blessing the People With Love and Joy

Local

Does Birthright Stifle Teen Travel?

Shavuot

Synagogues Celebrate New Arrivals

Torah

Building a Structure, as Well as a Peoplehood

TERUMAH, Exodus 25:1-27:19

By:

Rabbi Joshua Runyan

This week's Torah portion begins a bit like a bill of lading, listing all of the raw materials that went into the construction of the Tabernacle. All told, this movable sanctuary required "gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats' hair; tanned ram skins, [other animal] skins, and acacia wood; oil for lighting, spices for the...

Torah

True Reverence for God Has a Touch of Fear in It

YITRO, Exodus 18:1-20:23

By:

Rabbi Howard A. Addison

Fear plays a controversial yet enduring role in our lives. While an Old Norse saying asserts, "Fear profits a man nothing," the Greek playwright, Aeschylus, observed that fear "must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls." The modern philosopher Bertrand Russell counted "those who fear life as three parts dead," while the British statesman, Benjamin Disraeli, claimed "fear .....

Synagogue Life

Getting Hold of All the Right Stuff

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Nine-year-old Leedaar Alon giggled as she lowered a bright light over a metal grasshopper, setting the solar-paneled toy into a nervous skitter. Behind her, other fourth-graders in her class at the Congregations of Shaare Shamayim raced tiny cars using the same "solar" technique. On Sunday, Hebrew lessons took a back seat as the entire religious school rotated through a series...

Torah

To Believe, 'Get Your Feet Wet'

By:

Rabbi Fred V. Davidow

The Israelites were "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea" when they reached the Sea of Reeds. Pressing from the rear was Pharaoh's army. Lying before them was an impassable barrier of water. The Israelites complained bitterly to Moses that he had not done them any favor by liberating them from slavery. They assailed him with a sarcastic...

Food

Get Set for the Seven Species

t's Tu B'Shevat -- make a seder!

By:

Eileen Goltz, Jewish Exponent Feature

SLICE OF LIFE Battle stations, it's time to get ready for the seder. Get the Hagaddah, matzah -- wait; we don't need matzah for a Tu B'Shevat seder. This fun, educational and not-five-hour-long seder involves eating and enjoying the fruits native to the Land of Israel. During the seder, it's typical to serve four different kinds (glasses) of wine, and...