For Jews, one of the great classical sources of Jewish wisdom is Pirke Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) which contains many a statement about what this or that rabbi used to say. And, in the entire work, there is but one story, which only appears towards the end of the book. Read more...

Sometimes, you find the most interesting things in the most mundane places. However, sometimes you find the most interesting things in the most interesting places. Read more...

Few Biblical stories capture our imagination in quite the same way as does this week's Torah portion, Parashat Ki Tissa, the narrative of the Golden Calf. Moses ascends the mountain, promising to return. Time passes, and Moses does not return. The longer the people wait, the more anxious they became. Moses, their leader and the architect of their escape from Egypt; Moses their representative to God and valiant freedom fighter; Moses their teacher and lawgiver was nowhere to be found. Read more...

Our age is one of hand wringing. We fear for the survival of the Jewish people and our ancient civilization, and establish funds and committees devoted to the noble work of continuity. We read article after article predicting the extinction of the American Jewish community, chastising us for our lethargy, our tedium, and our mediocrity. Plans to turn our people around—through funding trips to Israel, use of Eastern meditation technique, strict observance of Jewish law (or its elimination entirely)—all promise to save us from our greatest contemporary enemy: ourselves. Read more...

One of the dilemmas facing a modern Jew is the question of how to know God.  Increasingly disappointed with our previous faith in progress and in the power of reason to bring about salvation, we turn increasingly to some of the timeless resources of our ancestral faith, looking to Judaism to root our search for meaning, to ground us in something eternal. Read more...