Friday April 17, 2026 – ל׳ נִיסָן תשפ”ו There is a moment that happens every year in Israel just after sundown on Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, when the flag at Har Herzl (Israel’s National Cemetery in Jerusalem) is raised from half-staff to full height. In the span of a few seconds, the country pivots […]
Friday April 10, 2026 – כ״ג נִיסָן תשפ”ו I first met Lt. Col. David Benjamin when we were both in the army. I was accompanying him to a speaking engagement as a representative of the Army Spokesperson’s Unit. Despite being in uniform, we quickly discovered something deeper that connected us: we were both native English […]
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, מְקוֹר הַחַיִּים וְהַחֵרוּת, Sovereign of the Universe, Source of life and liberation, כְּשֶׁאָנוּ יוֹשְׁבִים סְבִיב שֻׁלְחַן הַסֵּדֶר וּמְסַפְּרִים אֶת סִפּוּר יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם, אָנוּ נוֹשְׂאִים בְּלִבֵּנוּ אֶת כָּל מִי שֶׁאֵינָם יוֹשְׁבִים בְּבִטָּחוֹן הַלַּיְלָה. As we gather at the Seder table and retell the story of the Exodus, we carry in our hearts all […]
By Rabbi Efrat Rotem On Tuesday, March 17, 2026, Rabbi Efrat Rotem, Executive Director of MaRaM (The Israeli Reform Rabbinical Council), addressed the convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Her address touched on the question of how Judaism changed after October 7th. The views expressed here are hers. First, I would like to […]
Friday March 27, 2026 – ט׳ נִיסָן תשפ”ו One of the things I love about Jewish holidays is that even though the stories to be told, the liturgy and texts to be read, and the songs to be sung may remain the same, it is we who have changed. We lived through the entire year […]
March 20, 2026 – ב׳ נִיסָן תשפ”ו There are moments in Jewish history when the question is not only what is being done to us, but what we are doing to others, and who we are becoming as a result. This is one of those moments. While Israel is at war with Iran and Israeli […]
Friday March 13, 2026 – כ״ד אֲדָר תשפ”ו Dear World, Please stop shooting at synagogues and taking your anger out on the Jews. Thank you. In the past week alone, five synagogues have been targeted in attacks, including yesterday’s assault on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, outside Detroit. Jewish communities across the country are shaken, […]
Friday March 13, 2026 – כ״ד אֲדָר תשפ”ו When the sirens sound in Israel, everything stops. Parents grab their children and run for shelter. Schools close. Streets empty. In these days of war with Iran, Israelis are living with the daily reality of danger and uncertainty. For Jews in the Diaspora, the experience can feel […]
Friday, March 6, 2026 – י״ז אֲדָר תשפ”ו In this week’s episode of The Pluralist Podcast, my friend, colleague, and co-host, Orly Erez Likhovski, starts out by stating what should be obvious, but often is not: This. Is. Not. Normal. The now seemingly routine act of running back and forth to shelters, sleeping in public […]
Febraury 27. 2026 – י׳ אֲדָר תשפ”ו The word “Zionism” did not emerge accidentally. It was coined in the late nineteenth century by the Austrian Jewish journalist and nationalist Nathan Birnbaum (1864-1937), years before Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress. Birnbaum was searching for language that could capture the Jewish national awakening unfolding in Europe […]
