Florida, North Carolina, New York, Georgia…each day it seems like a different state is reporting antisemitism— numbers are increasing rapidly. We just marked Yom HaShoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — a time devoted to ensuring a terror even remotely in that realm doesn’t happen again. With stories percolating that feel eerie, much like pre-Holocaust times, the possibility […]
Dear JITC, I’m not always clear when something a commentator says is from Sinai and when it’s their own interpretation. What makes one able to say, “I don’t hold by Rashi or the Maharal,” but not able to say “I don’t hold by the Chofetz Chaim’s laws of gossip? And if it’s because one is […]
Noemie Lopian’s father wrote a book called, The Long Night, that sat on a shelf by itself in their house. It was a constant, living in the background of her childhood. When Noemie read its contents, she was 36 years old. What she found out changed the course of her life. It was her father’s […]
My family is in Spain for Pesach, which is breathtaking in its landscape and architecture and rich in its history. From the moment we got off the plane, I felt a heaviness, contemplating what was done to my ancestors in this place. As far as I know, I am not Sephardic, but the Jewish people […]
“Ma, there’s a fire!” is not what I wanted to hear as I was preparing for Passover by self-cleaning the oven. This was followed shortly by an explosion as the oven’s glass door shattered, leaving glass and burn marks all over the kitchen. Thankfully no one was hurt (except the flooring, which bears the marks […]
Dear Jew in the City, Why is it a mitzvah not to free a slave? That seems pretty messed up. – Moshe Dear Moshe, Thanks for your question. Before I answer, let me contextualize things for readers. We previously discussed a question about slavery, specifically how American Jews might or might not have participated in […]
