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Beth Kissileff

Beth Kissileff is an author at Religion News Service.

All Stories by Beth Kissileff

Orthodox Jewish women scholars’ growing authority is recognized in push to publish
By Beth Kissileff — March 29, 2022
(RNS) — A raft of new research fellowships and writing workshops represent a coming of age for the idea that learned women can claim authority in interpreting Jewish law.

Where is justice in a collapsed system?
By Beth Kissileff — February 25, 2022
(RNS) — Last month, a bridge in my Pittsburgh neighborhood collapsed into the ravine below it. I'm missing a sense of justice.

Dilemma for houses of worship: Openness or safety?
By Beth Kissileff and Rosalind C. Hughes — January 25, 2022
(RNS) — Our hope as those who attend and lead religious institutions is to maintain our humaneness and treat others with compassion, while keeping ourselves and others safe.

On a second COVID-19 Thanksgiving, how to find room for thanks
By Beth Kissileff — November 24, 2021
(RNS) — We can’t always immediately see the possibilities for growth that come out of a negative situation.

On Tisha B’av, the meaning of Tree of Life revealed
By Beth Kissileff — July 23, 2021
(RNS) — Some ideas for the architect who will rebuild the site of the Pittsburgh massacre.

Change is slow — but it’s coming, and it’s why they rioted at the Capitol
By Beth Kissileff — January 11, 2021
(RNS) — The chaos at the Capitol was the work of a desperate group, clinging to false beliefs at all costs, unwilling to shift their paradigm. But it is their last gasp. 

New Light congregant: Last year’s shooting demands we turn prayers to action
By Beth Kissileff — October 25, 2019
(RNS) — I can’t bring back the 12 American Jews killed by anti-Semitic violence this year, but I can live my life with the urgency our tradition asks of us and encourage others as well to build the world, kindness first. 

In the wake of the Pittsburgh shooting, finding a new Jewish voice at Shavuot
By Beth Kissileff — June 7, 2019
(RNS) — Many of the things that those killed did helped others find their own Jewish voices. And that, in some ways, is what Shavuot is about.

The Jewish answer to how to punish the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter
By Beth Kissileff — February 27, 2019
PITTSBURGH (RNS) — I plan to avenge the attack on my husband's synagogue and our community by celebrating our lives as Jews.

Fighting hate, from Tree of Life synagogue to Charleston’s Mother Emanuel Church
By Beth Kissileff — January 29, 2019
PITTSBURGH (RNS) — In response to hate, we connected with other victims of hate to increase good in the world and honor those slain in the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018.

‘Small, still voice’ at the 9/11 museum
By Beth Kissileff — September 9, 2016
NEW YORK (RNS) An artist hopes his work will be a redemptive force that helps to heal.

10 years later, Mister Rogers is still making neighbors
By Beth Kissileff — June 13, 2013
(RNS) Pittsburgh Theological Seminary devoted its summer leadership conference to insights from the life and work of Fred Rogers, whose popular television show cultivated virtues such as neighborliness.

Minn. teen finds a religious mandate for gun control after father’s death
By Beth Kissileff — February 14, 2013
(RNS) Each morning, Sami Rahamin attends synagogue to recite the Kaddish memorial prayer for his father, who was shot dead by a disgruntled former employee. Then he turns his attention to a faith-based crusade: gun control.

Some Jews can’t get jazzed over Hanukkah
By Beth Kissileff — December 5, 2012

(RNS) Ayelet Waldman isn't shy about sharing her true feelings about the upcoming Jewish festival of lights. "I loathe Hanukkah,'' she says. She's not alone: Some Jews, tired of the "December Dilemma'' and competing with Christmas, would prefer to avoid all the fuss. By Beth Kissileff.

As holy days approach, rabbis reflect on final sermons
By Beth Kissileff — September 11, 2012

(RNS) A well-known Jewish adage says that one should “repent one day before your last one.” Religion News Service spoke to a variety of rabbis about what their final Jewish New Year message to their flock before leaving the pulpit would be. By Beth Kissileff. 

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Popular Stories by Beth Kissileff

Opinion
Change is slow — but it’s coming, and it’s why they rioted at the Capitol
Opinion
Dilemma for houses of worship: Openness or safety?
News
Orthodox Jewish women scholars’ growing authority is recognized in push to publish
Opinion
The Jewish answer to how to punish the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter
Opinion
Where is justice in a collapsed system?

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