Category: Science and Health

As Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson takes his place as American Jewish University’s Mordechai Kaplan Distinguished Scholar it should be noted that for 40 years, he has been at the forefront of changes in the Jewish world. Artson, who has been dean of AJU’s Ziegler Rabbinical School for 25 years, proudly pointed out that “we have […]

Lashon Haron, evil speech, is often compared to a traveling salesperson selling tales. While we may think about the internal ramifications of evil speech—how gossip damages the souls of the person speaking and the person listening, we may not think about the external consequences. Especially when Jews choose to speak evil speech about other Jews. […]

Fifteen-year-old Jack (Akiva) Shrier of YULA High School in Los Angeles earned second place at this year’s Chidon HaTanach in Israel— a Bible contest considered one of Israel’s most prestigious academic competitions. The contest has been held in Jerusalem since 1958 on Yom Ha’atzmaut. This year, due to the war, the event was pre-recorded and […]

U.S. officials say they are planning to bar antisemitic agitators from attending the World Cup soccer matches that will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer. Those facing a ban could include the participants in the antisemitic soccer riots in Amsterdam in November 2024, and those who blocked Israelis from attending […]

Anti-American animus and domestic self-hatred are all the rage nowadays—not just from foreign nations and homefront progressives, but it now seems from the Pontiff of Rome, too. That’s right: the Pope. And it, actually, makes sense. After all, long before the College of Cardinals elected him to the papacy, Leo XIV was a mere priest […]

Since becoming an associate marriage and family therapist, Rabbi  Nicole Guzik of Sinai Temple never had a single doubt she made the correct decision. “I am having such a good time,” she said with a wide smile. “And I hope [my clients] are, too.” At the popular Sinai Temple Mental Health Center, Rabbi Guzik says […]

Jay Ruderman has been an activist his entire life. He has long advocated for social justice for people with disabilities, ensuring their visibility in Hollywood productions. Through his work as president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, he’s been able to make meaningful change. “The reason I have been an activist is because it’s allowed me […]

This Yom Ha’atzmaut the polls are sobering. The mass media pounding and social media shaming Israel and Zionism have absorbed since October 7 soured many Americans on Israel. In response, many American Jews are wavering too. But Israel’s 78th Independence Day is an opportunity to defy this political moment and think eternally, existentially, and about […]

For those of a certain age, the name Bennett Cerf brings up fading memories of an owlish, avuncular man you’d see on reruns of “What’s My Line.” For many, that was all he was: funny, sophisticated and one of television’s first celebrities. In retrospect, he seems like an early incarnation of someone who was famous […]

The story goes that the Chief Rabbi of Israel visited the Vatican and was invited into the Pope’s private quarters.  In the corner was a pay phone.  The Pope said that the phone was a direct line to God, and suggested that the rabbi make a call.  When the rabbi picked up the receiver, an […]