Jewish Blogs

Leah and Yaakov’s Relationship

Question:Why wasn’t the spiritual goal of building Klal Yisrael adequate to bond Leah to Yaakov in the same way it bonded him to Rachel?Answer:By definition special love is unique and exclusive and cannot be directed towards two people. Therefore, Yaakov’s love for Leah could not be like the love he had for Rachel. Had the world been on a higher level, Yaakov ...

Lawrence Grossman Reviews a New Book about Rav Soloveitchik

In the Forward this week, Lawrence Grossman reviews a new book about Rav Soloveitchik, Rabbi in the New World: The Influence of Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik on Culture, Education and Jewish Thought, edited by Avinoam Rosenak and Naftali Rothenberg.Grossman’s review, “Modern Orthodoxy’s Human Pillar: Evaluating the Role of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik” is an essay in its own right on the Rav. ...

Laugh or Cry?

What’s wrong with this picture? Plenty. And not what some people think.JTA ran an article about a couple that moved from the States, and found their niche of service. They provide Shabbos hospitality to soldiers who do not have homes that welcome them when they get a weekend off. Last year, they served some 3000 Shabbos meals.Scott and Teresa Johnson, ...

Lakewood residents say yellow recycling bins are ruining town character

I live in the wonderful city of Lakewood, a special town that has been an extraordinary place to live here in golus. We are very fortunate. I wish I could live in Eretz Yisroel – like all Yidden should wish – but as long as I am forced to live in chutz la’aretz, I consider myself lucky to live in a city of Torah, a ...

Lakewood bachur figures out Rubashkin conspiracy

I wanted to believe it was achdus. I wanted to believe that orthodox Jews from all walks of life could actually agree on something. I wanted to believe that despite what Rav Ahron, Rav Shach and so many others have said, we would still rally around one of them, defending their rights, regardless of their strange messianic ways. I wanted ...

Lag Ba’omer, Rebbe Akivah, and Kabbalah

As we cross over the midway point of Sefiras Ha’omer we approach the milestone of Lag Ba’omer – the 33rd day of the Omer. What significance lies within this special day and what connection does it have to the days of Sefiras Ha’omer? When we look into this question the first thing that comes to mind is that Lag Ba’omer ...

Lag B’aomer-Balancing The Individual And The Nation

During the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot we mourn the passing of the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who were decimated in a plague. Why did they die? What caused the plague to cease on Lag B’aomer? What can we learn from this tragic episode?The Gemara tells us that the students died because they did not give each other sufficient ...

Labor History Landmark: No. 7 Jefferson Market Courthouse

The Top 11 Labor History Landmarks in New York City is a blog series on Jewesses with Attitude created in honor of Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Waist Factory fire. Learn more about the series here, or check out JWA’s online walking tour.The 7th of the Top 11 Labor History Landmarks in New York City is the ...

Labor History Landmark: No. 11 The Lower East Side Tenement Museum

The Top 11 Labor History Landmarks in New York City is a blog series on Jewesses with Attitude created in honor of Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Waist Factory fire. Learn more about the series here, or check out JWA’s online walking tour.The final site of the Top 11 Labor History Landmarks in New York City is ...

Labels Can Be Good and Bad

I’ve been thinking a lot about labels lately. I recently wrote an op-ed about denominational labels in Judaism that was published in the Detroit Jewish News and on the Huffington Post website. In it, I explained how ambivalent I am about labeling individuals because these labels don’t always help us understand the individual better. Calling a Jewish person an “Orthodox ...

LA Times: Wilshire Blvd. Temple to Begin a Record $175-million Renovation

The Los Angeles Times reports on what may be the most expensive renovation for a Temple or Synagogue — a $175-million renovation and redevelopment project. The work will take two years. The Times give some background on the history of the Temple beginning in 1872:…Jewish merchants and bankers contributed toward the $1.5-million cost of the sanctuary, but movie money provided ...

Kvetching in a Danger Field

All bloggers write but not all writers blog. Since January of this year I’ve been doing both. Writing and blogging, blogging and writing. Wrogging, I suppose. Or bliting.That includes my continued pursuit of magazine freelanceing, but in terms of the respect writers get these days, it isn’t a very pretty picture. With blogging, the blogger is pretty much in charge, ...