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May 29, 2017, 8:15 PM

The Search for Authenticity: The Future of the Conservative Movement

When I began my rabbinical school studies, one of my teachers warned me that the search for the authentic form of Judaism is not like coring through an apple. Do not be under the illusion, he warned me, that...

May 1, 2016, 6:45 PM

Pesah and the Holocaust: A Response to My Father’s Question

For many years at my seder table, the following scene would play itself out. I would be going on (and on) about how we need to be thankful for all of the miracles that occurred to us, that we...

Apr 19, 2016, 8:11 PM

Comprehending the kitniyot craze

Don't be too quick to divest yourself of the practices that mean 'Judaism' to you -- even if others don't relate

Mar 27, 2016, 5:29 PM

College Education and Talmudic Study: Are They Really Necessary?

“I spent 70,000 dollars a year to send my daughter/son to university and when they finished their degree they could not get a job.” So the lament goes, and although I am an Israeli and I do not anticipate,...

Mar 10, 2016, 3:17 PM

42.2 (26.2) Stickers: On Running and Praying and the Upcoming Jerusalem Marathon

How do you know when someone’s run a marathon? They tell you. Well at least, they used to. Now they just plaster it all over the back of their cars—42.2, 21.1, 61, 100, 144 (all in kilometres), the numbers...

Jul 2, 2014, 6:33 PM

No Pain, No Gain: On Pain and Loss

On Sunday I completed my third Ironman distance triathlon (Challenge Atlantic City). On Monday we received the devastating news that the bodies of the three boys had been found. I also read the following summary of a speech that David...

Jan 14, 2014, 9:25 AM

Sleeping, Torah and triathlon

Yes, I have not posted anything in a long time, as some of my friends have pointed out. No excuses. Sorry. But no promises that you'll see another one for a long time either. In any case, I came across...

May 22, 2013, 2:33 PM

Running is a Lot Like Life: It is Easier to Tear Down than it is to Build Up

People frequently ask me for tips on how to start running. The first thing I always say to them, the one tip that I think is far more important than any other, is that they need to maintain consistency....

May 16, 2013, 3:12 PM

Is it Okay to Use Drugs to Make You Smarter, Stronger, Better Looking or Happier?

I have a foot in two worlds, or should I say, two feet in one world and a brain in the other. My brain is mostly involved in talmudics, in teaching talmud, writing about talmud, and spending a lot...

May 7, 2013, 3:04 PM

The Nanny State: Super-Sized Slurpees and Shopping on Shabbat

If I want to go into a restaurant or fast food joint (I don't count these as restaurants) and buy a 64 oz coke and drink all 1000 calories worth of it myself, why shouldn't that be my right?...

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About Me

Joshua Kulp is Rosh Yeshiva of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem where he has been teaching for 20 years; His publications include The Schechter Haggadah, a critical commentary on the seder and Haggadah, and Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Talmud; When he's not teaching, studying or writing, he's out there on the roads and trails, running and biking (and occasionally swimming). He lives in Modiin with his wife, Julie Zuckerman, and their four children, Yadin, Zoey, Anan and Rakia