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Sep 22, 2023, 10:39 PM

Rambo 2: African American in the Israeli Army

This is part two of the series titled “Rambo” about my service in the Israel Defense Forces. I served in three IDF units: Sayeret Golani, the Legal Unit (Praklitut), and the 7th Brigade of the Armored Division as a...

Allen S. Maller

Sep 21, 2023, 11:55 PM

Why Ultra-Orthodox Jews have great difficulty welcoming Converts

Very religious Christians and Muslims have great difficulty understanding why Orthodox Rabbis have so much difficulty in sharing Judaism with non-Jews who are interested in becoming Jewish. Often non-Jewish people think that the underlying attitude is Jewish clannishness and...

Sep 20, 2023, 11:45 AM

Rambo: Black American in the Israel Defense Forces

While I was a law student at UC Law San Francisco in California, I converted to both Reform Judaism with Rabbi Herbert Morris and Orthodox Judaism with Rabbi Abner Weiss. I underwent my bris (ritual circumcision) at Chabad House in Berkeley...

Allen S. Maller

Sep 13, 2023, 8:23 PM

The Jerusalem Temple and its older brother: The Ka’ba

The Jerusalem Temple (Beit HaMikdosh) and the Ka'ba, the House of God (Baitullah) in Mecca are the two most well-known sites for monotheistic pilgrimage in the world. The Islamic Hajj to the Ka’ba in Makka, and the Jewish Hajj to...

Sep 10, 2023, 8:20 AM

Convert to Judaism Meets Palestinian Community

When I was a law student in San Francisco, I converted to both Reform and Orthodox Judaism. My bris (ritual circumcision) was performed by a Chabadnik in Berkeley. It was an inspiring and uplifting transformation and rebirth. During my conversion...

Aug 30, 2023, 2:25 PM

Black Privilege: Finding Power Within Myself

In the United States, the concept of “white privilege” permeates the public intellectual discourse. Fundamentally, “white privilege” describes the advantages of whiteness, white skin, and white racial identity. As a black person, it is difficult for me to wrap my...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Aug 27, 2023, 12:20 PM

Do Converts Recite the Declaration of the Bikurim?

Parshat Ki Tavo (Dvarim 26:1-11) opens with the Declaration of the Bikurim (First Fruits): When you come to the land that the Lord, your God is giving you as territory and you inherit it and settle it, you shall take...

Aug 22, 2023, 10:29 AM

Lessons from Southwest Texas

Above all, we are a tradition that communicates our values through our stories. The exploits of Abraham, Joseph and Moses are better recognized and educate more effectively than reciting the Ten Commandments. Narratives stay with us, providing guidance and comfort....

Aug 20, 2023, 7:16 AM

Ani Difranco: Women Must Empower Other Women

I am a super-creative and super-artistic free thinking black American from Long Beach, California which is in Los Angeles County. I was raised in a community populated by strong black, Asian, and Latina women. In fact, as a child, I...

Moshe-Mordechai van Zuiden

Aug 20, 2023, 6:52 AM

‘Christian’-Ethiopian Aliyah—something funny happened en route to the Holy Land

These Ethiopian 'Christians' are Jews, period Half of all Russian, recent immigrants to Israel don't have any Jewish ancestry at all. They came because of family unification. In sharp contrast, all Ethiopians who want to make Aliyah are Jews. Some...

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