Jewish Assimilation | The Blogs

Apply for a Blog

Andy Blumenthal

Sep 18, 2023, 3:39 AM

Rosh Hashanah Reflections

Rosh Hashanah is not only the Jewish New Year (celebratory), but it is also a time of teshuva (deep reflection and repentance) for Jewish people around the world. What have we done this past year and so far with...

Sep 5, 2023, 8:01 PM

Rosh Hashanah Gifts for My Daughters: A Delicate Balance

Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Passover. The three times in a year that I send reminders to my adult daughters that they’re Jewish. OK, they know they’re Jewish, after all they were both born in Israel, and Hebrew, though forgotten, was their...

Andy Blumenthal

Sep 3, 2023, 5:34 AM

This is So Not a Way to Become a Jewish Woman

I'm sure many of us have seen the new hit Adam Sandler movie, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, and probably most people will tell you it's a great movie. However, as a colleague says: I'm not catching what you're...

Aug 30, 2023, 1:57 PM

From Hippie in Amsterdam’s Vondelpark to Chassid in Paris

Vondelpark Amsterdam. Photo by Chabad on Campus NL

It was in Paris, two weeks ago, when I had a remarkable encounter with a man in Chassidic attire. He recognized my Dutch license plate and asked if I was familiar with the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. Curious about his...

Aug 19, 2023, 7:18 PM

The great synagogue of Rionegro

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy for Unsplash

I arrived in Rionegro, Colombia in the early evening. My girlfriend, a somewhat levelheaded Guajira, was meeting me at the airport. She was originally from Santa Marta but relocated for work about two years before we met. I spied her...

Jul 17, 2023, 12:33 PM

The Holocaust survivor’s wife

The story of survival is something holy, to be passed on without alteration or sanitization or a 'happily ever after' ending

Jul 9, 2023, 5:37 PM

Documentaries & Films that will change how you look at Jewishness

Cinematic storytelling offers an intimate lens to view the world, and in my journey to comprehend the complexity and diversity of Jewish culture, I have found this lens to be particularly illuminating. Through the following eight documentaries and short...

Andy Blumenthal

May 21, 2023, 6:28 AM

Some Shabbos Chuckles

People never fail to amaze me in both their potential as well as in their idiosyncrasies. But the last number of weeks have really brought home that while we Jews share many commonalities, there are also quite a few...

May 14, 2023, 7:36 PM

Getting to Know Geneva’s Jewish Community

Situated along the banks of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps, Geneva sparkles as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. It is home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Committee...

Michael Feldstein

May 4, 2023, 10:09 PM

The Sights, Sounds, Scents, and Tastes of Judaism

Many of you probably have seen a video that went viral a couple of months ago. It captured the powerful emotions of a left-wing protestor at a rally in Bnei Brak, who was moved to tears and began singing...

Load more