As a rabbi, I’m always studying religious customs and traditions – it comes with the job. And this time of year, it’s hard not to notice Christmas. It probably comes as no surprise that Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and bargains like “Happy Honda Days” weren’t part of the Christmas celebrations of two thousand years ago.
Click here to listen to the D'var Toeah given on Friday, Dec 18. Click here to listen to the D'var Toeah given on Saturday, Dec 19. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus.
Parents, what’s your bedtime routine? A story, a song, a hug from a certain stuffed animal? This week the Torah teaches us the importance of closure.
Growing up watching the Tanner family on TV’s Full House, can you understand why I have mixed feelings about Netflix’s upcoming reboot of the series? Fuller House, which debuts February 26, follows the same format as the original, but with the kids now in the grown-up roles raising the next generation.
I'd like to dedicate my column this week to some thoughts about kashrut and food. After all, whether or not we personally keep kosher, or what sort of kashrut we observe, it is a fundamental Jewish practice--one of our most defining spiritual disciplines. For most of our people's history, until the modern period of emancipation, it is probably safe to argue that most Jews kept kosher in one way or another.
Family reunions bring with them a flood of emotions. This was the case in parshat Vayishlach for Jacob and Esau, and also this week in parshat Vayigash for Joseph and his brothers.
This week we commemorated the Japanese military strike on Pearl Harbor, which led to the United States’ entry into World War II. Among the many tragic events following that attack was the internment of people of Japanese ancestry living in the United States, the majority of whom were American citizens.
