Even though we no longer have a basin, and we no longer have a Temple, we do still have a mitzvah to wash our hands, called netilat yadayim.
Even in normal times, too many people suffer from FOMO, the fear of missing out, the result of attempting to live, as the kids say, “all the lives.”
By 1865, it seemed self-evident that American emancipation resonated with biblical emancipation in powerful ways. But it had not always been so: This new resonance of meaning captured the hearts of American Jews only during the vicissitudes of the Civil War. Before the Civil War, most American Jews did not oppose slavery. There were exceptions, but most Jews voted Democrat, and Democrats were tolerant of slavery. The anti-slavery parties were tarred with nativism, which was distasteful and threatening to a Jewish community composed largely of immigrants and first-generation Americans. And many, including such luminaries as the Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise and the Orthodox rabbi Morris Raphall, considered acceptance of American slavery consonant with the Bible, which documents slavery and sets parameters for its practice within the Israelite community.
“Unusual times call for unusual measures, so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise when a key aide to the president of the United States convenes a conference call with leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis, only to urge them to follow government instructions.”—Nathan Guttman
“I’m not materialistic, but I believe in the power of things to evoke people, places, days of one’s life.” These words inspired us to launch the Jewish Objects Project, where we asked Moment readers to share photos and stories of things that inspire meaning and memories of their own. Below is a collection of some of our favorites.
Sharansky, the refusnik who spent nine years in a Soviet prison, gives advice for those facing self-quarantine.
The word “challah” made its first appearance more than 2,500 years ago.
Anti-Semitism is a culture of commonly held malicious assumptions and attitudes toward Jews and Judaism.
