God’s Secret Things

In a less than a week, Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, will be celebrated. While New Year’s celebrations are nice (the Jewish calendar actually has four of them!), Rosh Hashana’s…

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The Intellectual Prototype

In the early and mid-twentieth century, there were what might be called stereotypical Jewish intellectuals – Jewish men and women who were dedicated socialists and whose fervor was often…

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Biodiversity

Today is the International Day of Biological Diversity, which was created in 1993 by the United Nations to promote discussions about issues of biodiversity. Biodiversity means that there…

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A Constitutional Congregation

What does the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania have to do with the oldest synagogue in that state? Congregation Mikveh Israel (Originally Kaal Kadosh Mickve Israel) was founded in the 1740s…

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Yogurt by Greeks

Greek yogurt may be all the rage in food today, but did you know that it was the Greek-Jewish Carasso family who created Dannon yogurt? The descendant of a prominent Sephardic family,…

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Frankfurt on the Hudson

Rabbi Joseph Breuer (1882 - 1980) was 57 years old when he and his family arrived in New York City from Europe. It was 1939, and the grandson of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch immediately…

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Rock of Ages

“Rock of Ages let our song / Praise thy saving power / Thou amidst the raging foes / Wast our sheltering tower....” This is the first verse of Maoz Tzur as translated, loosely…

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The Alarm Clock

New beginnings are always difficult. For those who are not “morning people,” every day is a new beginning, and we must be thankful to whoever invented the alarm clock, which keeps us from…

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Two Days of Festival

 Leviticus 23:34-36: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles ... On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of creative…

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A Letter of Eliyahu

The collected, and posthumously published, works of renowned rabbis often provide deep insights into the rabbis personal philosophies. An excellent example of one such work is Michtav…

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