Is there a distinctive Western Jewish identity, different from Eastern and Midwestern Jews? The question will be the subject of a future conference at the institute, but some indicators are found in a study conducted three years ago by the National Council of Jewish Federations.
Friday Night Live is a relatively new Shabbat service designed to attract 25- to 40-year-old Jewish singles. The Westwood service has become increasingly popular since its inception in June, now attracting standing-room-only crowds of up to 800.
There\’s a wonderful implicit message in the fact that we always begin the annual Torah reading cycle just after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. \”It is time to begin again,\” the reading cycle tells us. \”And the way to start is by putting the elements of our lives into their proper order.\”
Councilman Michael Feuer, a strong supporter of the project, said he was thrilled with the vote and hoped to eventually overcome the homeowners\’ objections.
The canonization of Edith Stein, a Jewish intellectual who became a Carmelite nun and died in Auschwitz, hits a raw nerve. A Jew, a nun, a martyr, a saint: How to respond to each of these links in the chain?
Amid the bizarre string of foreign-policy fiascos in which Israelfound itself mired as it greeted the new year, surely none was quiteso bizarre as the case of runaway teenager Samuel Sheinbein of Maryland.
When Merryl Weber lights Shabbat candles Friday night, she also kindles the flames on several yahrzeit candles. One to remember her mother, one for her father. And one for her son, Adam.
The New York Times devoted 1,500 words last Sunday to a biographical profile of Monica Lewinsky, the 24-year-old woman who allegedly had an 18-month affair with President Clinton and who has been accused of lying about it under oath.
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