JIMENA Study Shows Gaps – and Progress – in Sephardi and Mizrahi Inclusion in Jewish Schools and Camps

Increasingly, Sephardi and Mizrahi children are enrolling in Jewish day schools and camps in Los Angeles and New York. As a new study commissioned by the nonprofit JIMENA, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, shows, these institutions are responding with inclusive programs – but there are still improvements to be made. According […]

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Holding the Light

By Cari Uslan This year, as Hanukkah approaches, I keep returning to the image of a small flame holding its ground in a very dark room. A single, determined light that doesn’t pretend the darkness isn’t real, but refuses to be swallowed by it. The past year has left many in our community feeling unmoored. […]

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Rabbis of LA | A Rabbinical Marriage

Visiting Rabbi Liora Alban and Rabbi Daniel Freedman in their Mid City home, it’s possible to believe they’re newlyweds, even though they’ve been married for four years and it’s been 11 and a half years since they met. “What’s special about being married to a rabbi,” Rabbi Freedman said, “is that we aren’t able to […]

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Failure, Failure, and Faith

Rashi’s 11th-century commentary to the Torah is so central that it has almost merged with the text in our consciousness. Rabbi Shlomo Luria declared in the 16th century that Rashi’s work is the best “translation” of the text, and people should study it weekly alongside the parsha. And “Chumash-Rashi” (with the hyphen barely pronounced) was […]

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