Torah
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.
A guide to Judaism’s most obscure fast day
By Jeffrey Salkin — December 14, 2021
(RNS) — Does Judaism still speak to our souls, or just to our minds?
This Simchat Torah, one ancient Czech scroll has returned to its country of origin
By Yonat Shimron — September 27, 2021
(RNS) — Jewish life was nearly extinguished by the Nazis. But because of a historical quirk, Czech Jewish liturgical objects, such as Torah scrolls, survived. Now, one such scroll has made it back.
A pope, two rabbis and a new concern about supersessionism
By Eric J. Greenberg and Eugene Fisher — September 17, 2021
(RNS) — Both traditions are still learning how to speak to one another about their self-understandings.
What are the Jewish High Holy Days? A look at Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and a month of celebrating renewal and moral responsibility
By Samuel L. Boyd — September 1, 2021
(The Conversation) — As the Jewish community prepares to celebrate the High Holy Days, a scholar of the Bible explains their history and why they might offer consolation in times of uncertainty.
It’s the happiest of Jewish holidays. But this Purim, many are feeling sad.
By Yonat Shimron — February 23, 2021
(RNS) — This year as they mark Purim, a one-day holiday that begins Thursday evening (Feb. 25), American Jews are viewing the raucous, rollicking feast with a touch of grief.
Faith and the COVID-19 vaccine: ‘I’m a member of a community with duties’
By Julie Schonfeld — February 9, 2021
(RNS) — Rabbi Elliot Dorff, a theologian and ethicist specializing in medical ethics, talks about what we owe each other when it comes to being vaccinated.
In ‘Can Robots Be Jewish?’ rabbis weigh in on a Jewish pastime: disagreement
By Yonat Shimron — December 16, 2020
(RNS) — The questions in this collection, part of Moment Magazine’s long-running feature ‘Ask the Rabbis,’ offer a model for what is fundamental to Judaism.
The Talmud has a lesson for our cancel-culture world
By Will Berkovitz — July 17, 2020
(RNS) — As our ancient rabbis understood, debate — and the people who engage in it — is vital to advancing society.
At Shavuot, 3 NC synagogues find unity in online Torah study
By Yonat Shimron — May 28, 2020
(RNS) — The six-hour online Torah-fest may be a harbinger of the kinds of creative changes in Jewish communal life resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
A new book explores the evolution of the DIY handbook for Passover
By Yonat Shimron — April 8, 2020
(RNS) — Vanessa Ochs’ new book, ‘The Passover Haggadah: A Biography,’ recounts how this wine-stained ritual manual, handed to each participant around the seder table, evolved. And no, she doesn’t think the coronavirus will emerge as the 11th plague.
Museum of the Bible displays medieval Hebrew Pentateuch
By Yonat Shimron — November 7, 2019
(RNS) — The 15-by-24 Pentateuch bound in leather with metal bosses dates to around the year 1000 and was acquired two years ago by the Green Collection, headed by billionaire Steve Green of the Hobby Lobby arts and crafts chain.
At Yom Kippur, business leaders profit from reflecting on ethics
By Paul O'Donnell — September 18, 2018
JERUSALEM (RNS) — At the High Holy Days, a season for contemplating personal failings and achievements in the year past can be a time to take stock of financial practices and relationships too.
At national retreat, Jews embrace tradition with a self-help bent
By John Dyer — August 2, 2018
(RNS) — Seminars at the retreat reflected issues that Jewish folks face routinely, usually with a self-help bent: keeping kosher when big corporations dominate the food chain, anti-Semitism online and on college campuses and the Torah’s advice on confronting bullies.
After a fire destroyed his life’s work, an artist renews quest to paint Torah
By Paul O'Donnell — July 5, 2018
MOSHAV BEIT MEIR, Israel (RNS) — After a fire destroyed his life's work two years ago, American-Israeli painter Yoram Raanan finds new inspiration for paintings that depict key scenes from the Torah.
