Jewish education today finds itself continually adjusting to just how much the world of our students has changed in the past forty years; Jewishness” is continually being reinvented in dozens of traditional and new ways.This blog discusses Jewish education in the new world, and how we can face the challenge of having to adapt.
Day by Day
In our culture, we are repeatedly given two paradoxical/contradictory messages: Be Yourself & Be Better. So how do we navigate between self-acceptance and the goal of transforming into the best version of ourselves?
Five Things to Do When you feel Powerless about Israel
For the vast majority of people, the feeling of events well beyond our control will be the residual taste of this conflict, and we will be prone to despair. Here are five things to do when you feel powerless about what happens in Israel, to begin to refine your perspective and become a more empowered Jewish citizen of the world.
The Ten Commandments for our Time
Dr. Elliot Malamet interprets how the Ten Commandments translate into modern times.
The Counting
As the planet enters its second year of pandemic, the story of Rabbi Akiva’s students cannot help but conjure up images of spreading devastation and agonizing helplessness. In a time where we have all felt visceral insecurity in the mundane acts of touching, talking, breathing, Lag Ba’omer reaffirms that there is joy beyond mourning and redemption that rises from loss.
Life is Elsewhere? The Israel of Fantasy and Reality.
In the imagination of many people, Israel engenders hypersized fantasies, where each day respresents—depending on your point of view–the potential for violence and bravery and heroism; a haven from persecution or a fresh start for Jewish dreamers; Start-Up Nation mixed with spiritual elation; brutal occupation and ethnic discrimination.
Freedom is A Verb
Freedom is certainly not felt identically by all sectors of society. This Passover, along with cherishing our own self-determination, let us reach out and help those who are not truly free, harassed and threatened not for anything that have done, but simply for who they are, what they look like, whom they love.
Rosh Chodesh Nissan Aleph Meditation with Aaron Cohen
It is the new moon, the new month of Nissan. The first month of our calendar, and the month that contains Passover, our holiday of redemption. To celebrate this renewal, this welcoming of Spring, and our journey from the chaos of Purim to the redemption of Passover -...
When Slavery Is Not Just In Your Head
Many people have commented about feeling “confined” during the pandemic while at the same time according to the International Labour Organization, at least 40 million people are virtually owned by others right now around the world.
Whose Life Should be Saved?: The Dilemmas of Triage
During the past year, medical ethicists and hospital administrators around the world have been involved in agonizing life and death decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic, many of which have to do with triage. In this blog, Dr. Elliot Malamet discusses the different approaches to triage, and how Jewish ethics approaches these problems.