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Oct 13, 2026, 12:04 AM

The Knife and the Book

Mt. Sinai - Photograph by David Raphael

In our synagogue, perhaps like synagogues around the world the big issue we struggle with, perhaps every year, is why the Torah Reading for the second day of Rosh Hashana the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. It puts, quite...

Celeste Aronoff

Oct 1, 2026, 2:58 AM

How I’m Going to Save the World

I scroll and read and share and quote about Israel & Jews non-stop. I consume ‘Suicidal Empathy’ by Gaad Saad and agree with every example, every conclusion. I follow increasingly conservative commentators and news outlets, arguing with my various...

Sep 26, 2026, 8:33 PM

A Time for Identifying with my Biblical Namesake

"Location of the remains of the Tabernacle at Shiloh" - Photo by Deror Avi, via Wikimedia Commons

My Hebrew name, Chana (Hannah) was announced when my dad received an aliyah to the Torah on the Shabbat following my birth. In high school, reading about my biblical namesake in the Book of Samuel I, a powerfully dramatic...

Sep 24, 2026, 10:24 PM

Rosh Hashanah: Decree Is Not The Whole Story

Rabbis are often asked in the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah what their sermon is going to be about. This year, whenever I tried to think about what I might say, I kept returning to the same words....

Sep 23, 2026, 3:57 PM

The Journey of the Jewish Holidays — From a Broken Relationship to G-d’s Embrace

The Jewish Holidays Are One Love Story Most of us think of the Jewish holidays as separate events. Tisha B’Av is sad. Rosh Hashanah is serious. Yom Kippur is even more serious. Sukkot is happy. And Simchat Torah—we dance. But what if...

Michael Zoosman

Sep 22, 2026, 11:57 PM

Standing Against Ben Gvir’s Yom Kippur Death Wish

Just hours before the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir raised the possibility of applying the death penalty to a person whom the Jerusalem...

Sep 22, 2026, 6:08 PM

‘We are forbidden to give up hope!’ – Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

In this era of growing cynicism, a-historical and ignorant thinking, moral relativity, and pessimism, we Americans, Jews, Israelis and people around the world have a critical choice before us – to succumb to the malignant forces in our respective...

Sep 22, 2026, 12:37 PM

Moral Clarity: Put It All on the Board

Part IV This is the fourth and final part of a series examining Zohran Mamdani’s political formation, record and first months governing New York City. Terminology note: Wherever possible, I use “Gazans” when referring specifically to the people of Gaza. I...

Gabriella Jacobs

Sep 20, 2026, 9:17 AM

A slightly less selfish Yom Kippur wish list

I have a confession to make before Yom Kippur: I am often pretty self-centered in my davening. For as long as I can remember, the majority of my Yamim Noraim prayers have been devoted to my own little collection of...

Sep 19, 2026, 10:13 AM

Ha’azinu: When The Song Doesn’t End

I have written about the parsha many times. But I have never had to write one while sitting shiva. My father died on Sunday. And this Shabbat will be the first Shabbat of my entire life without him in this world. Then I...

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