High Holidays during a pandemic: finding new ways to uphold tradition By David A.M. Wilensky Aug 20, 2020 The most sacred Jewish holidays are approaching, bringing with them the longest and most well-attended services of the year. Even in the best of times, a congregation’s intensive preparations for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur take months. But this year, there is no road map for those preparations, which are dominated by the mortal threat… Read More
Books A treasure trove of LGBTQ texts from two millennia of Jewish history Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. A year before Noam Sienna, 30, earned his Ph.D. in Jewish history… By David A.M. Wilensky Jun 29, 2020
Bay Area ‘Pride Seder’ honors liberation history of LGBTQ Jews Amid all of the rainbows and parades and fantastic costumes for which Pride Month is known today, it can be easy to forget that the LGBTQ Pride movement… By David A.M. Wilensky Jun 19, 2020
Religion Conservative synagogues' dilemma: To stream or not to stream? For Orthodox synagogues, it was an easy choice: Pandemic or no, a Shabbat service cannot be streamed online. For many liberal synagogues, it was similarly… By David A.M. Wilensky May 25, 2020
Religion Shabbat, prayer and religious connection during a pandemic Around sundown on March 13, Rabbi Daniel Stein of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek gathered with his family and about two dozen congregants to… By David A.M. Wilensky Mar 17, 2020
Passover New haggadahs: nationalism, artistry, the environment and more The Passover seder is the most widely observed Jewish ritual, by Jews and non-Jews alike. That fact alone makes the haggadah, the guidebook to the seder,… By David A.M. Wilensky Mar 11, 2020
Purim Chabad edition offers mystical insights into Book of Esther For the Jew who takes Purim text study as seriously as Purim drinking, there’s a new commentary on the Book of Esther (aka the Megillah) from Rabbi Yossi… By David A.M. Wilensky Mar 4, 2020
Film A master of synagogue music finds his style and career fading Cantor Jack Mendelson’s style — the operatic hazzanut (classical European Jewish liturgical music), which enjoyed a golden age in early and mid-20th… By David A.M. Wilensky Feb 14, 2020
Jew in the Pew Is it permitted to punch a Nazi? Consult the internet Talmud. In the midst of President Donald Trump’s inauguration three years ago, well-groomed white supremacist spokesman and coiner of the term “alt-right” Richard… By David A.M. Wilensky Jan 21, 2020