It often seems like one’s academic major in higher education is a blood-bound oath, and America’s culture of specialized labor promotes that stoicism in kind. Judaism by contrast touts the polymath, a person of wide-ranging knowledge or skill, as the…
Apple updates icon for key diet element
Bagels are an integral part of my diet and identity and I truly feel that no bagel is complete without lox and cream cheese. This is a fact that I finally understood when Apple released the bagel emoji. When Apple…
To name a thing is to call it into being: A reflection on the Pittsburgh tragedy
To name a thing is to call it into being. In the beginning were the heavens and the earth. And darkness was on the face of the deep. “Let there be light.” And there was light, and it was good.…
Parashat Hayeh Sara: Maintaining our identity
The traditional Shabbat Torah reading this week is the section called Chayai Sora – our early history after the life of our matriarch Sora, or Sarah. We meet up with a number of key figures in the unfolding saga of…
6 ways to show you are proud of your Judaism
On Saturday, October 27th, a gunman opened fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue killing 11 innocent Jews and injuring 6 others. The attack occurred at Tree of Life Congregation in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. With the occurrence of this tragedy, the…
On Solidarity, Peoplehood, and Empathy: A response to the Los Angeles vigil supporting the those hurt and lost in Pittsburgh
Jews from all over Los Angeles came together on Sunday for a vigil in support of the families who were affected by terror Saturday morning in Pittsburgh. With a growing list of 64 Jewish organizations sponsoring the vigil, the question…
United we stand; and why we’ll never fall
As I made myself some tea and schmoozed at the coffee station after Shabbat lunch this week, I heard a surprising announcement. “Let’s take a moment of silence to honor the people we lost in today’s tragedy.” I waited for…
Candlelight vigil for Pittsburgh synagogue shooting held at Federal Building
Jews and people of other faiths gathered at the Federal Building at the intersection of Veteran Avenue and Gayley Avenue Sunday evening for a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the Pittsburgh Jewish community after 11 people were killed in a…
Rabbi Menachem Schrader on Vayera: Maturation is a Part of the Experience
Rabbi Menachem Schrader studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Yeshiva University. He has a BA in Philosophy from YU, an MA in History from NYU, and received his Smicha from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In the year 2000 he…