JITC Branches
From the archives
Dear JITC- I just saw my parents after 13 months since Covid started, since they have now been vaccinated. I remember there being a blessing over seeing someone you are close to after not seeing them for a year. Can you tell me about this? Thank you, Annie Dear Annie- The Sages, who wrote the […]
Over the past 14 years working as an occupational therapist in the NYC Department of Education, I’ve cherished teaching children how to hold a pencil, tie shoelaces, and navigate school challenges. But the most impactful experience continues to be a deeply personal one: Seeing the value society gives to the populations portrayed in their educational […]
Dear Jew in the City, What is the difference between a pilegesh (concubine) and a wife in the Torah? S.D. Dear S.D.- For the answer to this, let us turn to tractate Kesubos in the Talmud Yerushalmi (5:2). There, the gemara asks your exact question. Rabbi Meir explains that a wife has a kesubah (marriage […]
50 years ago, On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, a.k.a the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. In the Golan Heights, about 180 Israeli tanks went against 1,400 from Syria. Along the Suez Canal, fewer than 500 Israeli defenders with only three tanks were […]
Popular videos
In a world obsessed with devices, it occurred to me that we are living in an age where silence dominates many situations. Silence between couples, silence between families, silence everywhere you turn as people tap, tap, tap on their devices. What an isolating existence. But what if there was an antidote to silence? What if […]
Big Bang Theory star, Mayim Bialik, asks Jew in the City can science and religion work together in a Jewish framework? While there are some Orthodox Jews who believe in a literal account of the creation story, many of us hold that the events must be understood another way. RAMBAM, also known as Maimonides, stated […]
Recent videos
Rabbi Simcha Weinstein knows what it means to be called to something. As the longtime Chabad emissary (shaliach) at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Weinstein has spent years helping students navigate questions of meaning and purpose. But one of the deepest callings of his life emerged much closer to home. When one of his sons was […]
Jew in the City often features remarkable Orthodox Jews — people doing inspiring work or achieving incredible things — in order to push back at the stereotypes the world often associates with the community. But today, we’re telling a slightly different story. The person who captured our attention isn’t Jewish at all, but he’s no […]
