JITC Branches
From the archives
I was sitting in my Middle Eastern studies class at my public state school, listening to my professor talk about how sneaky Jewish lawyers stole land from the poor Palestinians after World War II. “The Jewish people were smart and used misleading contracts to take Palestinian properties and land,” he said. “The land was not […]
Dear Jew in the City- I’ve been wondering why matrilineal descent is how people are considered to be born Jewish. Do you have an explanation for it? Sincerely, Cameron Dear Cameron- Thanks for your question. Overly simplified, matrilineal descent means that “religion follows the mother.” A lot of people mistakenly think that, Biblically speaking, we […]
Hi JITC- What is the point of inviting these guests to our sukkah? Thanks, Max Dear Max- Thanks for your question. I see from the subject line of your message that “these guests” refers not to your corporeal yom tov guests but to the Ushpizin. “Ushpizin” is an Aramaic word that means guests. Aramaic is […]
Approaching Shavuot and counting the Omer–the Kabbalistic process between Passover and Shavuot—I remember my teshuva story. I was an Israelite unknowingly enslaved to a foreign culture, only to break through the goo of exile and receive the treasure of Torah. I returned to myself in isolation. Perhaps it had to be that way. I was living […]
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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 […]
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UPDATE 1/21/26: Since this article was first published, Elie Kligman has made history. This spring, the University of Michigan Baseball program welcomed Kligman as the first Orthodox Jew to play Division I baseball, where he joined the team as a catcher. Now 22, Kligman is a graduate student at the university and continues to balance […]
At JITC’s 2nd Jewish Media Awards, we were proud to honor Hasidic Jew Professor Aaron D. Twerski with a Jewish Media All-Star Award. A leading legal scholar and educator, Professor Aaron Twerski is the Irwin and Jill Cohen Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, a former dean at Hofstra University School of Law, and […]
