The digital irony of the coronavirus crisis Jewish tradition has a remarkable way of connecting current events to the Torah-reading cycle, and this crisis is no exception. BY KENNETH BRANDER | MARCH 23, 2020 While periods of crisis typically produce challenge and hardship, when we look hard enough we can often also find irony that …
The Creator and His Creatures: Lighting Up the Public Sphere Part of our mission as religious Zionists is to acknowledge that we cannot live on a desert island – we must engage in Israeli society Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander | December 23, 2019 There is a famous dispute between the House of Hillel and the …
Thankfulness is a basic human virtue Today’s schools focus on teaching the whole child: heart, soul and mind. There is even a focus on spirituality in our schools. God has finally made it into the curriculum! BY KENNETH BRANDER | November 30, 2019 Thankfulness is a basic human virtue, and a very Jewish one as …
“You walk around freely with your kippa on?” Oped by Rabbi Uzi Levian | October 31, 2019 On the night of Yom Kippur, following a moving prayer service and a reunion with Gothenburg’s Jewish members, some of whom I had last seen exactly a year before, we walked out of our community building and headed …
Living with a Collar Around my Neck As a young ultra-Orthodox woman of marriageable age, nothing really prepared me for what ensued. Oped by Orel Silam | August 16, 2019 This year, Tu Be’av – the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av – marks for me the freedom to love: to love life, …
Leaving Home – Again But we had always considered Israel to be our home, and this served as a great advantage to us. Oped by Sarah and Netanel Ansani | July 30, 2019 The moment we came to Israel we felt good. Each of us felt that this was the right place for us to …
Do We Love Our Daughters Less Than They Do Theirs? This week, we mark International Aguna Day, traditionally held on Ta’anit Esther, the fast on Purim eve. (An aguna is a Jewish woman who is “chained” to her marriage.) BY KENNETH BRANDER | MARCH 13, 2019 “All the books of the prophets and all the holy …
Freedom is not with the Rabbinical Court By Pnina Omer – Jerusalem Post Oped, 10/6/2018 In a recent column, USA based attorney Alan Dershowitz protested the detainment of a US citizen in Israel, a citizen whose sole crime, according to Dershowitz, is the fact that he happens to have a son who refuses to give a religious …
Rogel, a Religious Woman is Not a Chair Pnina Omer – 31/10/2018 Last week, Rogel Alpher published a column in Haaretz in which he related to Tzvia Gorodetzky, an aguna, or chained woman. In order to illustrate your opinion of Tzvia’s status in marriage, Alpher labeled her a “chair,” a “piece of property” and a …
Pittsburgh Strong According to statistics released by the FBI, of the approximately 3,000 hate crimes committed against religious groups in the US in 2016, more than half were committed against Jews. By Rabbi Kenneth Brander | October 31, 2018 A whirlwind of emotions has swept up Jews worldwide in the wake of the shocking and …
The Message and its Messenger We have the opportunity to become the “authors” of the prayers we read and the Torah we study through internalizing their messages and personifying their ideals. By Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander – September 4, 2018 With the long days of summer winding down, we can anticipate the swelling of our synagogue …
July 4, 2018 The Disintegration of the Chief Rabbinate by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin From the very beginning of the establishment of our Jewish state, it certainly was assumed that the institution of the Chief Rabbinate would have control over the religious services provided by the state: marriage and divorce, kashrut and conversion, at the very …
