News
Shavuot: Was G-d kidding?
5+ hour, 48+ min ago (49+ words) What was G-d thinking? Choosing the Jews on the second of Sivan and offering the Torah to the Moabites on the third of Sivan? And not just the Moabites, but the Hittites, Canaanites, Egyptians, etc. How could G-d betray us…...
Recognizing Shabbat Is Not Establishing a Religion
8+ hour, 38+ min ago (1762+ words) The Torah on a Lost Dog: Hashavat Aveidah in a Modern Canadian City Basketball: How has Israel become one of the best basketball countries in Europe in the last few years? In recent years, we have been looking for something…...
Shavuot: Stay Until Sunday
10+ hour, 20+ min ago (498+ words) By: Rav Judah Mischel As a therapist and guide, the prominent author of'Living in the Presence, Rabbi Dr. Benjamin Epstein, integrates traditional mindfulness with spiritual and cognitive behavioral techniques. In advance of'Zman Matan Toraseinu, the celebration of the giving of…...
Hersh Goldman: Shavuot marks harvest season and a spirit of gratitude
16+ hour, 33+ min ago (370+ words) Itemlive The Jewish annual biblical holiday Shavuot, which means "Festival of Weeks," will begin the night of Thursday, May 21. It is an agricultural holiday celebrating the seasonal transitional period from the first ripening of the barley grains to the season…...
My First Family Shabbat Dinner
14+ hour, 3+ min ago (481+ words) In her new book, Choosing to Be Chosen: From Being an Atheist Non-Jew to Becoming an Orthodox Jew (Wicked Son, 2026), Kylie Ora Lobell details her conversion process and tells her story. The following excerpt from the book is about Lobell's…...
The Sacred and the Secular in the Synagogue
17+ hour, 7+ min ago (539+ words) The Boundaries of the Sacred and the Secular in the Synagogue The Honor of the Synagogue and Prayer Q: Is it permitted to view a news website in the synagogue? Nevertheless, it appears that even according to their view, one who…...
Shavuot's demand to engage with the world
13+ hour, 11+ min ago (454+ words) On the surface, that is surprising. On the day that Jews mark the receiving of the Torah'the source of our holiness and spirituality'why is the emphasis on physical experiences? Surely, our engagement in the physical should pale in comparison to…...
Lone rabbi speaking at mass DC prayer rally calls antisemitism "utterly un-American
22+ hour ago (475+ words) The only non-Christian speaker at the White House's mass prayer rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Sunday was an Orthodox rabbi who got the crowd applauding his denunciation of antisemitism. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik leads New York City's…...
Trump's "Shabbat 250' Proclamation Divides America's Jews Ahead of National Mall Prayer Rally
23+ hour, 14+ min ago (1041+ words) U. S. President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. , Dec. 29, 2025. Credit: Daniel Torok/White House. (JTA) As part of a 250th anniversary celebration of the United States,…...
Brussels Cathedral Installs Plaques Apologizing for Medieval Antisemitic Persecution Depicted in Stained Glass
23+ hour, 23+ min ago (563+ words) A stained-glass window at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels depicts Jews desecrating the host used during the Eucharist in the Catholic Mass. The accusations led to the execution of some Jews and the expulsion of others…...