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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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.…