Roberta Rosenthal Kwall is the Raymond P. Niro Professor at DePaul University College of Law. She is the author of “Polarized: Why American Jews Are Divided and What to do About It” (forthcoming Bloomsbury Press, 2026), “Remix Judaism: Transmitting Tradition in a Diverse World” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020), “The Myth of the Cultural Jew” (Oxford University Press, 2015) and “The Soul of Creativity” (Stanford University Press, 2010).
This year, rather than focusing just on the seder, maybe consider how you and your family might incorporate even just one more element of Jewish tradition into your lives during the eight days of the holiday.
Envy is a completely unproductive, and even self-destructive, emotion.
Without Zionism, most religiously liberal American Jewish communities do not have sufficient Jewish content to sustain a thriving, long-term future in this country.
I have a vivid memory of how one home in my middle-class suburban New Jersey hometown was decorated at this time of the year.
The Obergefell litigation and its aftermath is a perfect illustration of how the legal theory of cultural analysis can move us beyond the endless spiral of polarization and strife we now face.
We must contemplate how we can harness the power of our words for good, for making a difference in what has become a path that is already far too dark.
Polarization surrounding Israel is especially intense in the American Jewish community. But loud voices do not equate to a growing majority.
We need our houses of worship to be a refuge from strife and political discord, and not a source of such conflict.
Our religious leaders and our laity must begin to grapple seriously with the lack of faith and prayer among American Jews and invest time and effort in trying to reverse this trend.
It was clear from Senor’s remarks that his talk was directed toward America’s religiously liberal community, who by far outnumber Orthodox Jews.