Meet the Rabbi Who Just Married One of Missouri’s First Legal Gay Couples
Rabbi Susan Talve’s favorite word is chutzpah: shameless audacity. This surprises no one who knows her. The spiritual leader of St. Louis’ Central Reform Congregation has...
Book Review // A Bintel Brief
A heartfelt letter sent to a newspaper editor a century ago has long stayed with me. I happened upon it decades after it was written. With his soul in torment, a New York factory owner had turned to the editor for advice. He was not paying his workers— like him, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe—nearly enough for them to make ends meet. He had a business to run, and there were limits to the wages he could afford. Still, the suffering of his employees and their families tore at his heart. What should he do?
A Post-War Conversion
by Melissa Suran
She lights the Shabbat candles in the dining room, where there is a picture her brother Manfred painted of a smiling, portly man...
Jewish Word // Haredi
The term haredi comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to tremble” (hared) and a verse in Isaiah, in which God says, “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word.” “Haredi really means those who are in awe, or who tremble or quake,” says Samuel Heilman, professor of sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York.
Mourners Come Together Over Slain Israeli Teenagers
It's a rare scene: Hundreds of Jews, sitting quietly in a synagogue chapel, turn their attention to a women dressed in a black robe and colored sash. As she steps onto the bimah of the congregation, the filled sanctuary falls silent as she offers her condolences.
Review: “Punk Jews” Chronicles Modern Misfits
Every strand of Judaism has its misfits: A collection of individuals who imagine themselves within a particular Jewish community while expressing themselves outside of its rules. Even amongst the insular, strictly structured Orthodox communities there are the hidden black sheep who get swallowed by louder hums. These are the Punk Jews.
Remember the Moment: 1964 Civil Rights Act Turns 50
The battle for civil rights was won in part by its most visible fighters: the heroic sit-in activists and Freedom Riders who risked it all in the name of a fair and desegregated nation. But courage comes in many forms. The movement’s success also owes the diverse groups that participated in making this moment possible—including Jews.
When Freedom Summer Came To Town
In 1964, The Jews of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and other southern towns didn’t always welcome their northern cousins or join the front lines of the civil rights movement...
Opinion // The Activists Who Cry Censorship
Supposedly silenced critics of Israel have plenty of platforms to air their views.
What Does the Hobby Lobby Ruling Mean for Religious Freedom? Jonathan Rauch Explains
In a triumph for religious liberty claims, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that for-profit companies could not be forced to pay for their employees’ contraception...
Opinion // A Kidnapping, Hijacked
All sides have jumped on this tragedy to further
their own political agendas.
Gay Rights & Religious Freedom: Can We Find Common Ground?
In 1997, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. But today the federal law is seeing an unlikely reincarnation. Moment asks six preeminent scholars: Can we find common ground between gay rights and religious freedom?