Author: David Rutman

This week, you likely belted out the words Dayeinu. Some of you hit another with a green scallion. (Email me if you need an explanation!) Others politely sang each refrain, reminiscing about days of religious school past. Dayeinu does not mean “It’s enough.” You might think the song reflects the angsty sentiments of the Israelites. […]

According to Rabbi Zach Shapiro, Spiritual Leader of Temple Akiba in Century City and a lifelong musician, the way Reform and Conservative congregations pray underwent a seismic change in the 1970s. That’s when Debbie Friedman, the hugely popular Jewish musician who died in 2011, “began to transform the way we pray.” The change, he told […]

Last week, the Brandeis Center and UC Berkeley settled a lawsuit over Berkeley’s longstanding failure to address antisemitism, including anti-Zionist bylaws adopted by student groups. The settlement was clear: Registered student organizations may not write discrimination into their governing documents. Nor may they exclude speakers, officers or board members on the basis of categories protected […]

With Passover days away, it should be remembered that California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, unlike Ramses, the Pharoah of ancient Egypt, actually let his people go—without putting up a fight. Not that disgruntled Californians were enslaved, of course. But like Pharoah, Newsom wanted them to stay. Jews escaped bondage in Egypt for the Promised Land; the […]

Why is Moses not mentioned in the Haggadah? When I was younger, I would wrinkle my nose at this question and dismiss it as a “klutz kasha,” a meaningless query that betrays an ignorance of how the Haggadah was edited. There is no author who “excluded” Moses from the Haggadah; the Haggadah is a collection […]

On March 11, Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBSLA) welcomed supporters and community leaders to The Big Event, an evening celebrating the organization’s impact and honoring three champions of mentorship and community: Sandy Sigal, Susan Kushner and Ethan Stern. Held at Stephen Wise Temple, the annual gathering raised more than $900,000 and […]

There was a time when Harvard’s “Jewish problem” was that many young Jews wanted to attend, but the university limited the number it would admit. But the tables have turned. A new report has revealed that Jewish undergraduate enrollment at Harvard is down to just 7% of the student body, the lowest figure in more […]

It’s becoming increasingly clear that when it comes to geopolitical bellicosity, there is no word for “Uncle” in Arabic or Farsi. In its war with Iran, the United States is learning what Israel has long known about its Islamist enemies: perpetually locked and loaded in apocalyptic, messianic, end-of-days dreamscapes, they will respond to total defeats […]

How does a rabbi become an author? Rabbi Moshe Engel described his unique route. “Many years ago, when I was 50, I decided I am going to write a book,” the retired 78-year-old teacher said. “The book was going to be about positive thinking because I had an excellent story about the subject,” which he […]