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Virtual Talmud

If there is one thing we have learned from the Iraq war it’s that the day after revolution is much harder to deal with than the revolution itself. What America is in the process of realizing is that teaching people how to live in freedom is a far greater undertaking than giving them that freedom…

By this time of year, many Jews are holidayed out. We’ve sat through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and used our personal days at work for the privilege. Perhaps we managed to celebrate Sukkot. But hold on, there’s still Hoshanna Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah–all this week! That’s right, the Jewish month of Tishrei…

As Jews have done for thousands of years, I am in Jerusalem celebrating the festival of Sukkot. As one journalist put it to me the amazing thing about Israel is that on any given day there are 10 stories that each could make front page news. And yet with all the drama engulfing Israel, there…

Wednesday night begins the holiday of Sukkot, a time when Jews around the world move temporarily out of our comfortable homes and eat, and sometimes also sleep, in sukkot, fragile structures with three to four walls and a roof that lets in the wind and rain. Sukkot was originally a harvest holiday, the original thanksgiving.…

As American Jews prepare once again to pray, “next year in Jerusalem,” on Yom Kippur, they should know that plans are being made to prevent that from taking place. For better or for worse, if it were up to Ehud Olmert we might be switching our prayers from “next year in Jerusalem,” to “next year…

Rabbi Grossman’s post on the wish “Next year in Jerusalem” reflects the fact that for much of Jewish history Jerusalem has been more of an ideal than a historical or geographical reality. It is only in the last hundred-odd years that Jews have been able to return to Jerusalem in larger numbers and only in…

Why do we end our Yom Kippur services with the prayer: “Next year in Jerusalem?” Why not: “This year in Jerusalem?” Last year when we ended our holiday services, many in my congregation meant just that: this coming year in Jerusalem. We were looking forward to a congregational mission to Israel that would bring us…

For not being more honest about the Armenian Genocide For not being more responsible for the upkeep of our sacred tradition For not putting an end to the case of Agunot For not reaching out and being more welcoming For not working harder to build bridges with Muslims For not speaking out enough against religious…

Someone once told me that the number of words a culture has for a particular idea or phenomena reflects its importance to that culture. The Yupik Eskimos are reported to have 24 words for snow, which makes sense since much of their lives hang on understanding and accurately adapting to the snow conditions around them.…

With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur fast approaching, Jews around the world are supposed to be reflecting on our behavior over the past year by acknowledging our wrongdoings, asking forgiveness, and committing to doing better in the year ahead. It is interesting to note that I use the terms “acknowledge our wrongdoings” and “ask for…
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