Sergiu Simmel
A little while back, in addressing recent discussions of minyanim and reacting to Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, BZ posted: Rabbi Kaunfer writes “New self-proclaimed movements sprung up — Reconstructionism, and the Renewal and Chavurah Movements.” The “Chavurah...
The nice people at the Forward asked me to weigh in on the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s recent stated desire to reach the “young adult” demographic . Here’s what I said: Rabbi Steven Wernick, the new head of the...
As a coda to the discussion about the woman arrested for wearing a tallit at the Western Wall, , this little Torah nugget came through my Facebook from my friend Simon. This, he writes, “opinion [was] expressed almost 300 years ago in R. Yom Tov...
Nofrat Frenkel, a medical student from Beersheva, was arrested for wearing a tallit at a gathering of Women of the Wall at the Kotel (Western Wall) today. (That’s not a picture of her–that’s some other folks from Women of the Wall.)...
“We are all mediators, translators.” -Jacques Derrida There have been three distinct moments since I began learning in the Jewish legal tradition that have significantly altered my perspective on the goals and intent of what we apply the...
Apparently, by using “communal” indicators for religious involvement instead of “individual” indicators, you can find a whole lot of politically liberal, religious folks out there whose existence hasn’t been plumbed by previous...
Despite my undergraduate degree in English, I can’t say that I have much of an understanding of or enthusiasm for poetry. However, I do get excited about interesting Jewish cultural events, particularly those happening outside of New York (or,...
Judaic Studies scholar Professor Zvi Gitelman will give two lectures at the Third Lecture Series co-sponsored by Hebrew College and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston. Prof. Zvi Gitelman will give two lectures on Jewish Genealogy and History...
Tablet Magazine hit another home run again today, with Josh Lambert’s column – On the Bookshelf – focusing on immigrants and emigres. In his coverage of peripatetic Jewish families, he mentioned a slew of good books . In Jacob’s Cane:...
