Beliefs and concepts
Orthodox Jewish Women Ordained as First Class of a ‘Different Kind of Leader’
JNS.org - On the surface, Sunday’s ordination ceremony for the first three graduates of Bronx, NY-based Yeshivat Maharat—the first institution to train Orthodox women as spiritual leaders and halakhic authorities—marked a historic moment for the Jewish community. But Rabbi Jeffrey S. Fox, rosh yeshiva (academic dean) of Yeshivat Maharat, does not view the institution as trailblazing or revolutionary. “On...
October 28, 2012 11:56 am
Entering The Valley of Decision
“Multitudes upon multitudes in the Valley of Decision! For the day of the lord is at hand...
October 19, 2012 7:16 am
Towers of Babel and Urban Living
Mayor Bloomberg of New York has recently decided that New York is falling behind other cities...
October 16, 2012 11:50 am
True Morality and the Story of Noah
Is there such a thing as an objective basis of morality? For some time, in secular circles,...
October 12, 2012 5:03 pm
Electronic and Cyber Communication in Relationships: Futility or Utility?
The 30-something businessman was just finishing lunch when a text message came to his fancy...
October 12, 2012 12:27 pm
Introduce Legislation to Limit Anti-Israel Hate Speech
Nothing makes us cringe more than screaming headlines reporting racist outbursts or hate crimes...
October 11, 2012 2:03 am
Natural Theology’s Revenge
“A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something in nature seems to reveal...
October 5, 2012 1:59 am
Christians Show Love of Israel in Jerusalem Streets
There was love in the air of Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon. Marching through the streets...
October 5, 2012 1:49 am
The Shtomp, Or The Case Against Religious Dancing
Simchat Torah, the festival of Rejoicing Over The Law, is upon us and once again I find myself...
September 30, 2012 4:51 am
When the United Nations Unites One Nation
Jews and decent people the world over swelled in appreciation when Israel’s Prime Minister,...
September 28, 2012 2:37 pm
Water: Rethinking Our Consumption
Most of us in the West take water for granted. When I was growing up, I don’t recall...
September 27, 2012 2:00 am
Speculation, Faith, and Unproven Assumptions: The History of Origin of Life Research in Scientists Own Words
(1945) Dr. Ernst Chain, Nobel Prize Medicine, 1945- The Life of Ernst Chain: Penicillin and...
September 25, 2012 2:26 pm
Use Fish, Not Chicken for Kaparot
Thousands of Orthodox Jews are preparing to swing live chickens over their heads before Yom...
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Personalities Sports
NBA Finals a Time to Remember Legendary Jewish Coach Red Auerbach
JNS.org - At the start of each nationally televised game of the 2013 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat, ABChas aired a film-clip montage of basketball’s great players and coaches—a montage that includes Jewish coach Arnold “Red” Auerbach, the mastermind behind nine championship teams for the Boston Celtics. Red was one of four children of Marie and Hyman Auerbach. Hyman was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who left Belarus when he was 13. The couple owned a deli and [...]
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Arts and Culture Jewish History
The Marx Brothers and Jewish Identity
JNS.org - The sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France, the Marx Brothers became zany masters of stage and screen who continue to captivate audiences. But in addition to providing comic relief, their films captured the drama of the entry of their marginalized religion into the U.S. Wayne Koestenbaum, author of the 2012 book The Anatomy of Harpo Marx, explains that the Marx Brothers’ Jewishness as a family “was evident, marked, thoroughly legible.” “Within a family already marked as Jewish within [...]
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Arts and Culture Jewish Identity
SuperJew
For my shekels, the question of whether the comic book character Superman, is Jewish or not shouldn’t even be questioned. Born and named Kal-El by his father Jor-El, “El” is one of the ancient names for God used throughout the bible and found in great prophets such as Samue-el, Dani-el and angels Micha-el and Gavri-el and of course, Isra-el. As Simcha Weinstein in his entertaining book, “Up, Up And Oy Vey” points out, “Kal” is the root of several Hebrew [...]
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Israel Sports
Formula 1 Road Show Thrills Jerusalem
JNS.org – Some 100,000 people attended Israel’s first-ever Formula 1 Road Show in Jerusalem on Thursday and Friday. For several hours, the controversies that normally characterize Jerusalem were put aside, and a diverse mosaic of Israelis watched up close as the motor-sport stars temporarily conquered the city. “It was an amazing experience, the most fast and furious thing I have seen,” spectator Masada Porat told Israel Hayom. “It was a rare, extreme event that explodes in your face.” Spectator Irena [...]
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Book Reviews Jewish Identity
Klara’s Journey Casts Jews in Fast-Paced Adventure Through Russian History
JNS.org – “If you’re sick, move away. Have some consideration for others,” a red army soldier scolds a slow-moving old man selling train tickets. “No, fires back the old man, proud, haughty, not realizing it’s a new country, a Bolshevik country where force heads the list instead of civility,” reads the following line in Ben G. Frank’s new novel, Klara’s Journey, released June 1. Reminiscent of Boris Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago—whose backdrop is also a train ride across the Russian frontier during the [...]
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Personalities Theater
Nora Ephron, Famed Jewish Screenwriter, Remembered Through Tribeca Film Festival Prize
JNS.org – For filmmaker Meera Menon, no honor could have been more fitting than winning the inaugural award named after famed Jewish screenwriter and novelist Nora Ephron, the woman whose work inspired her. At the recent 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, Menon was named the first recipient of the $25,000 Nora Ephron Prize, given to a writer or director whose work embodies that of the late Ephron, who wrote the scripts for a number of hit films, including “When Harry Met [...]
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Book Reviews Personalities
Book Review: ‘Jewish Jordan’ Memoir an Important Guide for Players and Coaches
JNS.org – Despite his friends’ and family’s doubts that a young Orthodox Jewish athlete could ever play college or professional basketball without compromising his religious values, between 1999 and 2009 the “Jewish Jordan” defied conventional wisdom and found his place on the court. In his new memoir, Jewish Jordan’s Triple Threat, Tamir Goodman describes his triumphs and disappointments in life, crediting his practice of Judaism for shaping his identity as an athlete and his understanding of basketball as a team sport. [...]
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Blogs Sports
Omri Casspi, ‘Jewish Jordan’ Partner on Basketball Camps to Inspire Youths On and Off the Court
Tamir Goodman (left) and NBA forward Omri Casspi—pictured on the court of the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls—together run basketball camps that seek to inspire youths on and off the court. Photo: Courtesy Tamir Goodman. JNS.org – Before last year, basketball camps for Jewish youths never had an instructor quite like Omri Casspi, a forward for the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers and the first Israeli-born player in NBA history. Casspi is a de facto ambassador for [...]
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