Author: David Rutman

Rabbi Eliezer of Worms describes a dramatic Shavuot morning ritual from the 1100s: “The custom of our ancestors is for young children to begin their studies in Torah on Shavuot, for it is the day on which the Torah was given … At dawn on the day of Shavuot, they bring the children … and […]

On May 13, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published a detailed report on the Sarah Lawrence College student senate’s decision to deny recognition to a campus chapter of J Street U, the liberal Zionist student group whose national platform supports a two-state solution and a negotiated peace. The report is thorough, sourced, and damning with audio […]

There is a tradition to stay up late on Shavuot: studying and pouring over the texts of our tradition. The ritual is said to have come from the hevruta between Rabbi Yosef Caro and Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz. They and a few other great scholars learned with intensity, fervor, and spirit. As they bantered through the […]

Israel’s Noam Bettan finished second at the Eurovision 2026 Grand Final in Vienna on May 16, giving Israel its second straight runner-up finish in the competition. Bettan performed “Michelle,” a Hebrew, French and English pop song, and finished with 343 total points: 220 from the public vote and 123 from national juries. Bulgaria’s DARA took […]

There was a time when Jews were accused of poisoning wells, spreading plague, murdering Christian children for ritual purposes and concealing monstrous moral depravity beneath a civilized exterior. The details changed by century and geography. The structure rarely did. And one of the most uncomfortable truths about those episodes is that the accusations were never […]

Dr. Tomer Malchi, Co-Founder and CEO of CultivAid, has been named the 2026 Prize Laureate of The Charles Bronfman Prize. The award, which comes with a $100,000 prize, recognizes visionary leaders whose work is rooted in Jewish values and delivers meaningful, measurable impact in the world. In December, Malchi received a phone call from Charles […]

Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David sat next to each other on the Saban Theatre stage on May 4, reminiscing about the four best “Seinfeld” episodes. They were taping the “Rushmore Podcast Live” podcast, where legendary Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel and his co-host Ben Persky interview the greats in every industry. Ultimately, all of them decided […]

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy entered common usage through the Septuagint, a Jewish translation of the Bible into Greek. These names are rough translations of ones used in early Rabbinic literature and are in fact rooted in the Jewish tradition.‌ In this older system, each name corresponds to the theme of the book. The […]

I’ve noticed a few schools encouraging the graduating class to create a time capsule. A newspaper headlining a major moment of that year may be included. Perhaps a trendy piece of clothing or something representing an inside joke. But what if the time capsule included items that represented the students’ values? Perhaps a Magen David […]