The Paralympics’ Jewish Roots
The competitive spirit of this year’s Summer Games in London did not end with the Closing Ceremony. From August 29 - September 9, 2012, thousands of athletes with physical disabilities…
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
One of the most repeated instructions in the Torah is that judges must do everything possible to provide equitable justice. In Deuteronomy 1, Moses reiterated this point once again,…
A Fashion Statement
In Numbers 15:38, God commands the Jewish people to “make themselves tzitzit on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations.” Additionally, it is written in Deuteronomy…
The Jewish Honeymoon?
Where are you going on your honeymoon? Rather than announce an exotic location like Hawaii or Tahiti (or even Niagara Falls), most traditional Jewish couples answer that they are going to…
The Soviet Jewry Movement
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. At first glance, a discussion of the Soviet Jewry Movement may seem like an odd choice for Jewish American history, but the movement had a powerful…
Jewish Genetics
The fact that one’s genetic code is a combination of the DNA one inherits from both mother and father is a basic lesson of high school biology. According to traditional Jewish…
Paschal Lamb – A Unique Commandment
While most Jews have attended a Passover Seder, no Jew in the last 1,900 plus years has tasted a Paschal lamb (“Korban Pesach”), the animal offering associated with Passover that shares…
Development of the Haggadah
On Passover night we are commanded "v'hee'ga'd'ta" and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover Haggadah serves as a…
Traditional Jewish Views on Birth Control
Judith, the wife of Rabbi Chiya, having suffered in consequence [of pregnancy] agonizing pains of childbirth, changed her clothes [in disguise, in order to get an unbiased answer] and…
Jewish Penicillin
There is an unusual statement in the Talmud (Berachot 44b) about the therapeutic value of particular foods: “Six things provide a permanent cure for illness: cabbage, beets, an extract of…