Tag: religion

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Question: What will you dress up as this Purim?

An agnostic may be compared to one who sits on the sideline of "The Big Game" without rooting for any particular team.

We are all aware that the Sabbath is observed on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.

A few weeks ago I attended the annual dinner of the National Bible Association, which admirably seeks to promote the reading of the Bible across the United States.

I suppose I should begin by explaining why I bothered to read the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (Bantam, 2006).

When Nietzsche a century ago surveyed his surroundings and proclaimed that "God is dead," he might have in retrospect judged himself only slightly premature.

With Presidents Day coming up next Monday, it seemed like the ideal time to chat with Paul Kengor, associate professor of political science and executive director of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

Pope Benedict XVI's apologies for worldwide reaction to his remarks about Islam and his outreach meeting this week with Muslim leaders are "mere diplomatic...

Seidenfeld Yahrzeit This Shabbos marks the first yahrzeit for the four Seidenfeld children of Teaneck who perished in a fire. Philyss Seidenfeld, the mother...

When I was in fourth grade I was bullied mercilessly by a boy in class.

Lost Gemaras Recently a Port Authority chaplain (who is also a chaplain at UMDNJ, my place of business) handed me two travel-size Gemaras he...

Despite commonly held conceptions that athletic prowess and Jews don't mix, a Jewish fascination and involvement with the world of sports can be traced back throughout the ages.

In some ways it is a depressing period in Jewish history. The American Jewish Diaspora community, or at least the non-Orthodox bulk therein, is in the process of committing cultural/national/religious suicide.

QUESTION: I am active in kiruv work in a neighborhood where there are many Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Unfortunately, these people were kept ignorant of their Jewish heritage.Lately I've noticed a new phenomenon. At this time of year, many of them seem to be bringing evergreen trees into their homes. They claim that they always did this in Russia in celebration of the "winter festival".What should my attitude be as a kiruv professional?Name WithheldBrooklyn, NY

As Arnold Schwarzenegger scrambles to convince voters that he is more than a muscle-man married to a Kennedy, he would do well to emphasize the realism of his Terminator filmsover the surrealism of California politics.

A few weeks ago, I published a story entitled "Will Your Grandchildren Remain Jewish?" In that article I reported on a TV program that focused on intermarriage. As offensive as that situation was, nothing quite compared to an article that came to my attention through the good offices of Mr. Andrew Friedman, who is a prominent attorney and a leader of the Los Angeles Jewish community.

While there is of course more than one way to look at the last two centuries of Jewish life on the planet, one instructive way to summarize them might be as a two-hundred year search for an alternative to traditional Orthodoxy.