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Joseph C. Kaplan

Oct 2, 2026, 7:01 AM

Deracheha Darchei No’am – Her Ways are Pleasant Ways

Some of the most difficult questions in life as well as in Jewish law (halacha) — questions that are practically, psychologically, emotionally, and legally fraught — deal with end-of-life issues. Sharon and I have agonized over them, in moments...

Oct 1, 2026, 11:29 PM

What Sukkot knows about the mental load

Despite our egalitarian ideals, my wife runs our home for 51 weeks a year. And then, for one long holiday, Jewish law gives men like me that experience

Oct 1, 2026, 8:14 PM

What ‘They Shall Be My People’ Does Not Mean

The Jerusalem Noahide Congress is not the next step toward the House Brit Olam has printed a verse over the First International Noahide Congress and treated the printing as arrival. “And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in...

Michael Feldstein

Sep 30, 2026, 12:29 AM

From Prohibition to Kiddush: The Surprising Story of Grape Juice and Halacha

Credit: Gemini

If you have young children at your Pesach seder—or even if you don’t—chances are you’ll be pouring grape juice for some or all of the four cups we are required to drink. Today, we take it completely for granted...

Sep 29, 2026, 12:56 PM

Sukkot: When Jonah Was Right, You Need Shade

Every year, about four days after we finish beating ourselves up on Yom Kippur, Hashem looks down and says, essentially, now go sit outside in a hut for a week. And not a real hut. A temporary one, with a roof...

Daphne Lazar Price

Sep 28, 2026, 3:10 PM

I want to read the essays

Young men writing essays. (iStock)

When you were accused of drugging and gang-raping a woman and given the opportunity to mitigate against the alleged crime, what did you say?

Alissa Thomas-Newborn

Sep 16, 2026, 11:10 PM

Yom HaDin: Looking for the Good

דע, כי צריך לדון את כל אדם לכף זכות, ואפלו מי שהוא רשא גמור “Know that a person must judge everyone for the good, even someone who is completely wicked,” צריך לחפש ולמצא בו איזה מעט טוב, “it is...

Sep 16, 2026, 4:56 AM

Hallowing Time – Fashionable Zionist Wrist Watches

Friends, this column is inspired by a fellow TOI blogger, Keith Brooks who wrote a recent article entitled, "Your Wrist Is About To Start An Argument With Your Rabbi" about the annoying and ubiquitous presence of beeping smart watches...

Sep 15, 2026, 12:29 AM

Your Wrist Is about to Start an Argument with Your Rabbi

If it hasn't already. I don't have a "SmartWatch". I like my Omega, Seiko, Bulova collection. Over Rosh Hashanah, several people dinged, beeped, and had flashes on their watches. And I thought: we are nowhere near ready for what is coming. This...

Sep 10, 2026, 3:45 PM

The Best Books of 5786

The term People of the Book, which sounds much better in Hebrew, Am HaSefer, is indeed apt. Walk into any Jewish bookstore or browse on Amazon, and new titles arrive daily. 5786 is coming to a close, and the year, like...

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