Dear Jew in the City, I hear people in the Orthodox community sometimes talk about tznius (modesty) for a woman like it is her MOST important mitzvah. Like what she exists for. While I’m a fan of tznius, this perspective on it does not sit well with me – that our greatest goal in life […]
Scientists Finally Read the Oldest Biblical Text Ever Found Scientists have finally been able to read the oldest biblical text ever found. The 2,000-year-old scroll has been in the hands of archaeologists for decades. But it hasn’t been possible to read it, since it was too dangerous to open the charred and brittle scroll. BrainStorm […]
In Venice, Caring For The Dead, And Affirming Life You can’t help but love and admire Aldo Izzo’s dedication to burying the dead in Venice, after seeing the exhibition of Hadassa Goldvicht’s new work, “I Am Yours And My Dreams Are Yours/The House of Life” at Meislin Projects. The New York show offers a poetic […]
Dear Jew in the City, Isn’t being honest and ethical part of a religious Jewish life? Sometimes I read about Orthodox Jews committing fraud. What does Judaism forbid, and why are people such hypocrites? Sincerely, Disillusioned and Disappointed Dear D & D- No doubt this question was motivated by last month’s news in which seven […]
One of the most dramatic scenes in the Torah is when Moses descends Mount Sinai and sees the Jewish people dancing around the golden calf. Moses takes the two divinely-inscribed tablets he is holding in his hands and thrusts them to ground, shattering them. Whatever became of the tablets smashed by Moses? The Talmud in […]
Growing up in secular America, it was always a major event when they would broadcast The Ten Commandments on one of the major, primetime networks. Although I watched it on a television screen decades after it “played on the big screen, it still took my breath away – even as a child of the eighties, […]
