Are there Jewish prayers specifically for Thanksgiving? Absolutely, says Alan Brill, a professor of Jewish Studies Seton Hall University who writes about history and trends in Jewish spirituality and practice on his blog — it’s a tradition with a long history. In a post this week, Brill ran through more than two century’s worth of…
A new Messianic school in Dayton, Ohio, is prompting some backlash among the Jewish community. According to a recent Dayton Jewish Observer report a so-called Messianic Jewish group named Ahavat Torah Yeshiva is ramping up online activity — but not clearly indicating to potential members that the group does not follow traditional Judaism and believes…
I am a Jew. I’m certainly not going to win any awards for “World’s Best” anytime soon. But this is the religion and culture I have identified with for the entirety of my life. At the same time, I feel zero attachment whatsoever to the state of Israel. Nil. When I hear news related to…
The Public Religion Research Institute (PPRI) released a report last week on “America’s Changing Religious Identity.” Many of the findings were of particular interest to the Jewish community. Below are the 10 most fascinating things we learned about the changing nature of the American Jewish landscape: 1: Jews Are No Longer The Most Educated Religious…
This time the Israeli government went too far, and it is high time for us, concerned Israelis, and for you, members of the Jewish community in the U.S., to say in unison, loudly and clearly, that American Jews must have a seat at the table. The majority of Israelis do not support the disgraceful decisions…
The “Prayer For Our Country” (or “Prayer For The Country” or “…The Nation”) takes place in synagogues across America (and elsewhere) every Saturday. Those of us who have been to synagogue are familiar with its text. On the face of it, it’s a platitudinous interlude before returning to the religious task at hand. But the…
With all the hateful stuff being said about Jews by the “alt-right”, with a White House that somehow neglected to mention Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day, with hate crimes spiking and even placid Jewish Community Centers on the receiving end of bomb threats, the results from a survey released today by the Pew Research Center…
In her recent piece, “Our Great Moral Failure in Syria,” Forward Editor-in-Chief Jane Eisner calls attention to the American Jewish community for “inexcusably turning our backs on those in need” in Syria. Like Eisner, we are all grappling with the unconscionable amount of death, suffering and displacement we’ve witnessed in Syria over the past few…
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