In the 1960s, New York-born secular Jew Sam Zeitlin loved cycling and wanted to follow his passion all the way to the Olympics. He trained incredibly hard and even earned himself the nickname, “Brooklyn Lightning.” He made it all the way to the U.S. Pan American Cycling Team and attended the 1967 U.S. Olympic Pre-Trials, […]
Last week, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sabbath accommodations in the workplace, ruling that accommodation is required unless it causes a substantial burden to the employer’s business. But how did a country founded on religious freedoms take almost 250 years to adequately protect Sabbath observance in professional spaces? […]
Dear JITC- Mayim Bialik just mentioned cholent on Jeopardy. What is it and why do Jews eat it? Thank you, A Dear A- Thanks for your question. Cholent is a form of stew traditionally eaten at the Shabbos afternoon meal. The reason for it is comparable to the reason for lighting Shabbos candles. Exodus 35:3 […]
A question about the Shabbos staple delicacy cholent stumped Jeopardy! contestants this week, and observant host Mayim Bialik helped explain the answer. As the $400 “Sabbath” category clue presented was a photo of the traditional slow-cooked stew, alongside the following: “Exodus 35:3 bans doing this on the Sabbath, hence the Jewish dish ‘cholent,’ which can […]
“I started work in January of 2015. Within a couple weeks, we had four blizzards in a four week period. We got over 100″ of snow and actually it never went above freezing so it didn’t melt. We had a huge crisis. The transit system stopped working. None of the storms involved Shabbat. It was […]
At week number whatever this is of stay-at-home orders, many of us are feeling a little… bored. Last night, even my 6th-grader, who I don’t think had complained even once since his school closed, finally voiced some dissatisfaction with doing the same thing every day. (His school is actually doing an excellent job maintaining a […]
