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Jun 9, 2026, 10:04 AM

A Giant Leap: Lunar Landing and Legal Impossibility

Hatzofe, Friday 25 July 1969 (Historical Jewish Press, https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/newspapers/jpress)

On 20 July 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module successfully landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong, followed by Buzz Aldrin, became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface. As Armstrong stepped out of the spacecraft, he famously...

Jun 4, 2026, 8:03 PM

The Heavenly Horizon: A Spaceman’s Shabbat

Rabbi David Shloush, 2008 (Wikipedia, https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A5:Rabi_david_shloush.jpeg, Public Domain)

On 1 April 2026 – the eve of Passover 5786 – NASA launched a crewed spacecraft on a flyby trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. This was the first crewed flight near the Moon since Apollo 17...

Jun 3, 2026, 8:04 AM

More Than a Diploma

One of the most formative experiences of my cantorial training took place during my final year as a student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, when I became the first cantorial intern in the history of Congregation Beit...

Yaara Wiedman Samuel

May 31, 2026, 2:48 PM

I didn’t need the Rabbinate’s exam to answer questions of Jewish law

Female candidates take a rabbinical test administered by the Chief Rabbinate at the Religious Services Ministry in Jerusalem on April 27, 2026. (Chief Rabbinate)

By the time women like me were allowed to sit for the test, we had spent years answering questions of Halacha and leading communities

Andy Blumenthal

May 31, 2026, 8:06 AM

Mamdani’s Enablers

We saw a disturbing display of political theater at Gracie Mansion recently. A crowd of progressive Jewish New Yorkers packed a Pre-Shavuot reception hosted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. They smiled for photos and ate cheesecake, completely ignoring the mayor’s...

Daphne Lazar Price

May 28, 2026, 8:58 PM

The Bitter Waters and the Fear of Women’s Learning

“A man who teaches his daughter Torah teaches her tiflut.” Mishna Sotah 3:4 The Hebrew word tiflut has been translated in a number of ways: foolishness, obscenity, frivolity, impropriety, even promiscuity. None of the translations are flattering. For generations, this language...

Allen S. Maller

May 27, 2026, 2:45 AM

Converts Are God’s Gift to the Jewish People

The Hollywood Museum will host a centennial celebration honoring Marilyn Monroe, who was one of the most famous Hollywood converts to Judaism, on Tuesday evening. This could not happen in Israel where more than 580,000 Israeli citizens today are...

May 5, 2026, 12:32 AM

Kosher Disunity

According to Rabbi Ezra Friedman of the Jacobs Center for Kashrut Education there are a number of factors which interfere with the smooth running of the kosher food enterprise in Israel. It begins with the fact that there are two...

Shayna Abramson

May 1, 2026, 2:37 PM

Women & state rabbinic exams: Joy & trepidation

First of all, I would like to wish a big mazal tov to the first three women in Israel to sit for State Rabbinate exams, despite all the obstacles that it placed in their way: the Rabbaniot Yaara Vidman...

Apr 28, 2026, 1:39 PM

Dignity and perseverance: How 3 women finally took the Chief Rabbinate exam

Female candidates take a rabbinical test administered by the Chief Rabbinate at the Religious Services Ministry in Jerusalem on April 27, 2026. (Chief Rabbinate)

After a 4-hour delay – including notice that the test was canceled, triggering an emergency High Court injunction – these inspiring women made history. It's only the beginning

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