Spirituality

Parashat Toldot: Choosing Jacob's path to redemption

Choosing Jacob’s path means refusing to settle for fighting evil alone. It means actively working to add goodness and to build a world of meaning.

NOVEMBER 13, 2026|ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ

'The original division of responsibilities could no longer be sustained.'

JEWISH IDENTITY and the Land of Israel: Deeply bound. Pictured: Pelicans in Emek Hefer.

Parashat Toldot: The Jewish people are inseparable from the land of Israel

From the very beginning, Jewish identity and our attachment to Israel are presented as inseparable parts of the same covenant.

NOVEMBER 13, 2026|ByMOSHE TARAGIN

FITTING BEAUTIFULLY in two worlds: Avraham Ravitz at the Knesset, 2008.

Sukkot 2026: Faith and prayer can protect us, but Israel still needs a strong IDF - opinion

Even as our heads spin from a dizzying array of consecutive holidays, the parade of crises focusing on the IDF marches on and on.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2026|BySTEWART WEISS

I’m Jewish at a Christian high school, it’s taught me a lot about who I am - opinion

Ben Kleiman describes life at a Christian high school, from mandatory chapel to interfaith conversations, and how the experience shaped her relationship with Judaism.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2026|ByBEN KLEIMAN

Peruvian archaeologists unearth 500-year-old Inca ceremonial bath

The "finely carved" bath averages some two-meters in depth, with independent pools and spillways and a central passage taking water into a drainage duct.

APRIL 15, 2023ByREUTERS

Archaeologists work in the remains of an ancient ceremonial Inca bathroom, discovered in a sector known as Inkawasi (House of the Inca), at the archaeological site Huanuco Pampa, in Huanuco, Peru April 5, 2023.

The life-changing magic of washing your hands (on Passover)

One element of the washing is called “shifshuf yadayim,” which literally means “rubbing the hands,” and is initially described in the Tosefta (Yadaim 1:2), a 2nd-century CE compilation of Torah law.

APRIL 4, 2023ByDANIEL BRENNER / JTA

‘WE’VE ALL heard that we need to wash our hands to help hamper the spread of coronavirus, but the exact precautionary measures can be confusing at best and conflicting at worst.’

A Hothouse of Torah and Kindness: Shuva Israel’s New Yeshiva in Vienna

MARCH 9, 2023ByMARK FISH

Intense ‘devekut’: The goal of the Jewish mystic

The term devekut is often rendered in English as “cleaving.” Alas, using an English term that is not part of common speech hardly clarifies the experience being described.

JANUARY 21, 2023ByLEVI COOPER

ABSORBED BY their ‘devekut’-filled prayer, they did not see the mayor and his party approach the ark. (Pictured: an ark in an Efrat synagogue)

Astrologers explain the most annoying zodiac sign personalities

Everyone has annoying traits - but some people are impossible to be around. These are the most annoying zodiac signs according to astrology experts.

DECEMBER 28, 2022ByWALLA!

A rising tide: No need to diminish ourselves to let others shine

When we light the shamash and use it to light the others, we realize that we see an increase in light, not the diminishment from the original shamash.

DECEMBER 22, 2022ByRACHEL AIN