Exposition of remarkable, yet obscured, women of holy Jewish texts.
Lag Ba’Omer: holiday of the collective soul
This past weekend, the Jewish nation celebrated Lag Ba’Omer. For the average American Jew, Lag Ba’Omer may be a bit of a mystery — there is no Christian equivalent, it is not commercialized in any way, and pop culture has…
On the up and up: is Passover price inflation real?
Perhaps no holiday tests the Jewish imagination to the same extent as does Passover. Each year, irrespective of locale, Jews are asked to explore their ancestral heritage by recreating the Passover story that traces the Jewish excursion from bondage to…
TBT: The history of Chad Gadya and Passover
In honor of Passover and the Internet sensation of dedicating Thursdays to past experiences, I took to Ha’Am’s archives to find an article that our predecessors wrote about this fine holiday. The following article, “Chad Gadya: Not Just for Passover,”…
Ha’Am Winter 2013 Print Issue: A Look At Jewish Traditions at Home and Abroad
In case you missed Ha’Am’s Winter 2013 Print Issue, you can now read all the articles and see the complete PDF online. Enjoy!
When Americans cannot compete, we all lose
Home to the second largest Jewish community, with some 5.2 million Jews, the United States’ political climate is undermining the ability of its citizens to trust their government. Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics, opined in his blog Economics and…
Is G-d racist? The Jewish take on the chosen people
Article contributed by JAM Rabbi Avner Engel ————————————————- Why did G-d create you? Does he need you? To say such a thing would imply that G-d is lacking, which is the opposite of Judaism’s infinite, all-powerful G-d. The only thing…
First Farsi Holocaust text connects Iranians to Jewish history
On October 14, I was privileged to be a student delegate at 30 Years After’s 3rd Biennial Conference. 30 Years After is the civic and political voice of America’s Iranian Jews, the first and only organization of its kind. The…
Yiddishkayt’s Helix Project: a modern adventure into the forgotten Yiddish past
Cobblestone paths and narrowly winding streets. Freshly painted yellow buildings and crumbling courtyards boarded up in disrepair. Vilnius, summer 2012, or as the Yiddish speaking Jewish population called it prior to World War II, Vilna, the Jerusalem of Lithuania. Ten…