Rabbi Jeff Fox
Introduction to Birkot ha-Schachar part 2
In our last essay , we unpacked a debate between Ramban and Rambam about how to understand Birkot ha-Shachar. Are those brakhot like a...
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Rabbi Jeff Fox
6 days ago
Introduction to Birkot ha-Schachar part 1
The adanim were sockets that held together the structure of the mishkan . Without having them in place, the physical building simply...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Oct 15
Permanence and Fragility on Sukkot—Does My Sukkah Need a Mezuzah?
The Architecture of the Sukkah Is the physical sukkah meant to be built like a permanent house or a flimsy tent? Is the experience of...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Oct 7
Crying Into the Void - October 7
Before Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered by Hamas, his parents drove to the Gaza border, standing as close to their son as they...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Sep 29
Interpersonal Teshuva
Teshuva as a Paradigm for the Interaction of Heart and Mind There is perhaps no area of Jewish Law or Jewish life where we experience the...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Sep 28
Introduction to the Halakha v'Agadda Series
In the first quarter of the twentieth century, two great Jewish thinkers wrote essays with the same title, “ Halakha v’Agadda ,” or Law...
Rabbanit Dr. Liz Shayne
Aug 12
Comfort, Discomfort, and Distress: A Neurodivergent View of the Nine Days and Tisha B’Av
Were I so inclined, I could make the argument that this time of year—the nine days from the beginning of Av and specifically the fast of...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Apr 18
Perspective
Rabba Sara's perspective on Passover this year.
Rabbanit Dr. Liz Shayne
Apr 18
And You Shall Tell Your Self: Narratives, Neurodivergence, and Passover Neurodivergent Torah for Passover
The Haggadah is the social story of the Jewish people. The Haggadah takes the disparate and often overwhelming experiences of our nation...
Rabbanit Dr. Liz Shayne
Mar 20
אסתר פנים: Seeing Esther's Face Neurodivergent Torah for Purim
The custom of dressing up on Purim is an interesting one. Dressing up as someone else is not a formal minhag in the sense that it is a...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Jan 11
Reflections on the Maharat and Jofa Mission to Israel
I am one of many people who have come to Israel on a Mission. Jofa and Maharat brought over 30 people to give chizuk and support. In...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Oct 27, 2023
Reflections from Israel: Despair and Resilience
When I woke up on Monday morning, I realized that it was time to do something. For two weeks, like many of us, I walked around in a state...
Rabbanit Dr. Liz Shayne
Sep 18, 2023
Finding Justice in Jonah
Jonah, the prophet whose story we read on Yom Kippur, is a troubling figure for the rabbis. What does one do with a prophet who...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
May 23, 2023
Golden Age of Women’s Gemara Learning or the End of an Era?
On April 5, 2023, Stern College announced they would be shutting down their beginner and intermediate Talmud classes, citing “lack of...
Rabbanit Dr. Liz Shayne
Apr 26, 2023
What is Neurodivergent Torah?
This essay is dedicated to the students of Maharat and YCT. Thank you for asking me what neurodivergent Torah is and accepting that it...
jephson4
Apr 3, 2023
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Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Mar 1, 2023
Vashti and the Systematic Abuse of Power
“We shall stand amazed that there was a woman found at the head of the Persian empire that dared to disobey the command even of a drunken...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Jan 31, 2023
The Changing Face of the Orthodox Rabbinate
The American Orthodox Rabbinate is changing.1 I have been part of the rabbinic clergy team at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale–The...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Jan 31, 2023
Britney Griner and Yosef: From the Pit, They Shall Emerge
In last week's parsha, Yosef’s brothers threw him into a pit. As far as I could see, no Mefarshim comment on how long he was in the pit...
Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Jan 31, 2023
Defending Dina
Last year, a woman from the Modern Orthodox community reached out under the pseudonym “Tali,” expressing disappointment that leaders from...
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