religion -

Mordecai Kaplan wanted Jews to choose Judaism. Why they didn’t was the bane of his life.

April 7, 2026April 7, 2026Jesse Orine

Reconstructionist Judaism, wrote the Jewish sociologist Charles Liebman almost 60 years ago, “comes closer than any other movement or school of thought to articulating the meaning of Judaism for American Jews.” By emphasizing belonging over rote observance, personal fulfillment over inherited obligation, and Jewish “civilization” over theology, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s brainchild seemed poised to capture […]

A very New York gift guide for Hanukkah 2025

December 8, 2025December 8, 2025Jesse Orine

There are some people who only want the warm embrace of their loved ones for Hanukkah. As for the rest of us — well, thank goodness for Hanukkah presents! Whether your family are one-and-done types of Hanukkah gift-givers or you’re the kind of mishpacha to give presents each and every night, we’ve rounded up a […]

New York City sets Guinness record for largest-ever Shabbat dinner, with 2,800 at the table

November 23, 2025November 23, 2025Jesse Orine

Eight hundred and eleven pounds of potatoes, 402 challahs, 68 chefs, 59 people named David and 27 people named Rachel. It all adds up to the world’s largest Shabbat dinner, which was organized by Temple Emanuel’s Streicker Center and held at the Javits Center on Friday night. Some 2,800 Jewish New Yorkers packed the top […]

At Christie’s, a public viewing and private sale of unique and historic menorahs

November 18, 2025November 18, 2025Jesse Orine

A silver Tiffany & Co. menorah from the year 2000. A bronze, 23-inch tall Statue of Liberty menorah made in 1986 in New Jersey by German-born artist Manfred Anson. A silver Hanukkah lamp, inlaid with carnelian stones, that was made in the early 20th century at the Bezalel school in Jerusalem. These are just a […]

Letting go: Jews retire yellow ribbons, dog tags and other hostage symbols with gratitude and grief

October 13, 2025October 14, 2025Sara Wood

Like most synagogues, Congregation Beth El in South Orange, New Jersey added new rituals after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that killed 1,200 in Israel, saw another 251 taken hostage and launched a grinding war between Israel and Hamas. The Conservative congregation hung a “bring them home now” sign out front on behalf of the […]

Two years in, some are asking if the war in Gaza is changing Judaism

October 5, 2025David Leibermann

In the two years since the attacks of Oct. 7, the Jewish discourse over the war in Gaza has been agonizing and polarizing. Jews have argued over the Israeli government’s military aims, over what it means to “bring the hostages home,” over the left’s betrayal of its Jewish allies and over the influence of Israel’s […]

How AI and ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ played essential roles in this Chinese immigrant’s journey to Judaism

August 15, 2025August 15, 2025Jesse Orine

When Liangda Hu first tried doing Daf Yomi, the practice of studying a page of Talmud per day, he struggled to read it. Hu found the language of English Talmud translations uniquely archaic and, as someone who speaks English as a second language, difficult to understand. So he turned to artificial intelligence. Now, Hu uses […]

Love is in the air — and on the Jewish calendar

August 6, 2025August 6, 2025Jesse Orine

Calling all Jews who love to love! Tu B’Av, the Jewish day of love, is upon us once again. Observed every year on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av, this year the holiday begins Friday, Aug. 8 at sunset and continues through sunset the next day. A once-forgotten minor harvest festival that […]

He wrote the book on American Jewish history. Stepping back from teaching, Jonathan Sarna says he has plenty of chapters still to go.

July 6, 2025July 6, 2025Sara Wood

Journalists I know joke that the only Jewish historian they ever need to call is Jonathan Sarna. Jews and the Civil War? Sarna knows where the bodies are buried. Need a quote about Jews and bagels? Sarna will give you one with everything. The history of American Jewish prayer? Amen. That Sarna is quoted on […]

NYC’s Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum has a plan to protest Trump 2.0

March 19, 2025March 26, 2025Sara Wood

In polarizing times, here’s something both sides can agree on: Opponents of Donald Trump’s agenda are struggling to offer any resistance. “Democrats are like hamsters on a wheel, running furiously and going nowhere,” crowed Liz Peek of Fox News. “If Trump’s first Presidency was characterized by widespread revolt, his second term has so far been […]