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of Northern California

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(Illustration/JTA-Rebecca Kerzner)

Religion

For this second pandemic Purim, let's focus on giving tzedakah

One year ago, we were debating how to navigate Purim carnivals — not if they should or should not take place. We were told that masks would not protect…
By Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, JTA Feb 22, 2021
Keshira haLev Fife, a kohenet (Hebrew priestess), is the founder and leader of Kesher Pittsburgh, an independent, post-denominational Jewish community. (Photo/JTA-Courtesy Fife)

Analysis

Don’t call them ‘fringe’: New Jewish groups seek mainstream respect

Keshira haLev Fife is well known in the Jewish community of her native Pittsburgh, where she conducts Shabbat services and Hebrew school classes. But…
By Gary Rosenblatt, JTA Feb 22, 2021
“Moses and Joshua Bowing Before the Ark” by James Tissot, ca. 1900

Torah

The power and the mystery of the cherubim, explained

The Torah column is supported by a generous donation from Eve Gordon-Ramek in memory of Kenneth Gordon. Terumah Exodus 25:1-27:19 In the days right after…
By Rabbi Shana Chandler Leon Feb 19, 2021
Kiki Lipsett as Esther in the 2019 "Irreverently Yours, The Shushan Queens" Purim spiel at the Starline Social Club in Oakland. (Photo/Courtesy Kiki Lipsett)

Editorial

Purim reminds us how to heal hearts through laughter

We in the temperate Bay Area do not experience the kind of deep winter freeze typically found back east or, now, even in Texas. But after a year of…
By J. Editorial Board Feb 18, 2021
In the 2019 "Irreverently Yours, The Shushan Queens" Purim spiel, Haman and the king plotted to build a wall around Shushan to keep the Jews out. (Photo/Courtesy Kiki Lipsett)

Religion

What are we ready to joke about this Purim?

Among Purim’s traditions, perhaps the most well known is the Purim spiel, a theatrical retelling of the Book of Esther that can be pointed, satirical,…
By David A.M. Wilensky Feb 17, 2021
Haman shooting an arrow at the zodiac to forecast the future in an 18th-century Dutch megillah. (Photo/Collection of Shalom Sabar)

Astrolojew

Month of Adar: Milk the magic for all it’s worth

Adar 5781 Feb. 13-March 13, 2021 Though the month of Adar is associated with Pisces/Dagim, because of the fluctuations of the 19-year Metonic cycle to…
By Lorelai Kude Feb 16, 2021
Dr. Bruce Feldstein, a chaplain at Stanford Medicine, on his way to meet with a newborn's family during Sukkot.

Health

Jewish hospital chaplains are on the pandemic’s spiritual front line

In early February, Dr. Bruce Feldstein, a Jewish chaplain at Stanford Medicine, peered into a glass window as a man on a breathing tube, suffering from a…
By Gabriel Greschler Feb 16, 2021
Illustration of a donkey by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1649.

Torah

Rise above the trap of hating or blowing off ‘the other’

The Torah column is supported by a generous donation from Eve Gordon-Ramek in memory of Kenneth Gordon. Mishpatim Exodus 21:1-24:18 Among the many many…
By Rabbi Amy Eilberg Feb 12, 2021
(Photo/Wikimedia Commons)

Mixed & Matched

Can my baby have an Orthodox conversion?

Dear Dawn: I was raised Reform, but am now a nonpracticing Jew married to a non-Jewish woman. We were married by my Reform rabbi and are expecting a baby.…
By Dawn Kepler Feb 10, 2021
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