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A visit to the Gazelle Valley in Jerusalem
We are avid attendees of the annual “Houses from Within” festival in Jerusalem, which took place this past weekend. Except that, instead of going inside, we have a habit of getting the scoop on...
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Mindfulness saved the wedding
When my wife and I were invited to an intimate wedding on the beach this week, we thought - that should be lovely. A make shift chuppah set up at sunset with just the endless blue stretching from the...
View ArticleHair no more
The queue (well, more of an amorphous, fast talking crowd) was already 30 girls long when my daughter Merav arrived at the Malcha shopping mall in Jerusalem. The girls – teenagers and young adults...
View ArticleCircumcision, no fine: on why mandating religious behavior backfires
I’m circumcised. My two sons are circumcised. Pretty much every other male I know is, too (not that I check). But a ruling last week by the Supreme Rabbinical Court for Appeals in Jerusalem that...
View ArticleTop zingers from this year's Comedy for Koby
Comedy for Koby rolled into Jerusalem this week and my wife and I were there, along with our three kids, who we treated to their first live comedy show as a Hanukah gift. (Think of it as guffaws...
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More sex and halacha: have we gone too far…or just far enough?
It was pretty much a given that my most recent article, with the provocative title “Sex and halacha: a disturbing look at the sources,” was going to attract attention. But even I was surprised by the...
View ArticleToughing it out: a colonoscopy in Jerusalem
The waiting room in the gastro clinic at Shaarei Tzedek hospital is pleasant enough. Recently refurbished, there’s free WiFi, extra padded seats (a thoughtful touch given the nature of the work done...
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Yossi Klein Halevi book launch highlights a cultural, centered Jerusalem village
“They promised me heat!” Asher Abraham blurted out at the conclusion of last night’s launch event for Yossi Klein Halevi’s new book “Like Dreamers.” Today's Top Blogs image: read more
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TheTorah.com embraces biblical criticism – too far or not enough?
It was almost a throw away comment, coming in the last half hour of a four part lecture series on “Truth and History in the Bible.” But in it lies the germ of revolution, with the power to rock...
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Haredi Nation vs. Startup Nation: JNext and the irony of Sunday's protest
The irony was almost too delicious – and at the same time dreadfully serious – to avoid. The hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews who rallied on Sunday essentially against integrating into...
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The power of singing on Friday night
The next time you go to synagogue on a Friday night, take a moment to consider how many people are there for the davening (the prayer itself) and how many for the communal singing? If queried, most...
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Will the world’s largest Seder be canceled this year?
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Who needs peace talks? Musical coexistence in Jerusalem
As the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were breaking down last week, the Old City of Jerusalem was an unlikely spot of musical coexistence. And nowhere was that more pronounced than in...
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Game of Thrones meets HaTikvah in video mashup
I’m not a fan of Game of Thrones. That doesn’t mean I have anything against the popular TV show based on the book series of the same name; I just haven’t found time to fit it into my already too busy...
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Cultivating local indie acts at Jacob's Ladder music festival
The Jacob’s Ladder music festival, held twice a year at the Nof Ginosar kibbutz along the Sea of Galilee, and which just concluded its spring session this past weekend, has been quietly transforming...
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