Remembering the Lessons of Two Different Ruths Every year as Shavuot approaches, I think about my mother. That’s because her name was Ruth — just…
Posts published in “Chavurah”
For the Love of Jeff: A Father’s Day Reflection on Mister Rogers’ Most Memorable Young Guest At 10, Jeff Erlanger appeared on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”…
My Year in Israel: Pain, Possibility, and So Much More I call Israel the land of a thousand emotions because, regardless of the day, the…
How and Why I Sit with the Deceased Before Burial Since 2011, I’ve been part of a group that ensures that the bodies of the…
Why Are Reform Institutions in Israel Important to Us? On a recent visit to Haifa’s Leo Baeck Education Center, I was reminded of the collaborative…
Writing From the Edge: Calls for Inclusion in New Israeli Poetry Israeli poet Adi Keissar’s description of the world – the messed-up world – rings…
The Centrality of Israel’s Declaration of Independence In a forthcoming book, Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Dr. Ruth Gavison parsed what is at the heart of…
This Time We’re Going To Do Zionism Differently Colonialism conjures up painful images of economic, political, and/or military domination by external forces. Who would wear…
This Lemon Cake Recipe Exposed a Family Secret After a Shabbat dinner in my home for three Germans, one of them shared a lemon cake…
“Synonyms”: Israelis Portrayed as Outsiders in New Award-Winning Film Nadiv Lapid’s, “Synonyms,” is a superbly directed, thinly plotted, challenging, provocative new film nominated for four…
What Noah and His Ark Taught Me about Being “Good Enough” When we can’t be Moses or Esther or whomever we want to be like,…
13 Heart-Warming Jewish Stories about Moms for this Mother’s Day This Mother’s Day, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite stories about moms to…
Is Israel Too Crowded?: Reflections from the Galilee Israel cannot support the kind of population growth it has experienced over the past 70 years. What…
What Living in Poland Taught Me about Anti-Semitism and Zionism Living in Poland showed me the need for a home for every human, and the…
Witness to Cruelty: Bringing Compassion to McAllen We have witnessed traumatic cruelty in the U.S. recently. If witnessing it has been traumatic, we can only…
The Wine Was Good: Another Look at the Trefa Banquet There is no question that treif was served at the Highland House banquet, but 135…
Is Mah Jongg the Newest Summer Camp Craze? For years, my mom has been on a mission to teach mah jongg at the Reform Jewish…
Will Borscht Ever Remind My Kids of Me? My kids would rather starve than eat a blintz or other food with roots in the shtetls…
Turning: A Poem for Yom Kippur Inspired by Yom Kippur services in 5778, this poem reflects one writer’s view of the most holy day in…
Today’s the Day: Wake Up and Vote! Today is the day we act by voting – taking the step that will help move us from…