Features

CJL: Ancient approaches to intersex individuals

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Close study of ancient texts – mishnaic, talmudic and midrashic – often shows that there was no one monolithic way of thinking about almost anything in rabbinic Judaism. That includes opinions on sexuality and gender, as shown in “And the Sages Did Not Know: E…

CJL: A romance, a marriage saga and detective stories

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“The Phoenix Bride”

An impossible romance between a Jew and a Christian in England in 1665: that’s one of the many interesting plot elements offered in the very moving “The Phoenix Bride” by Natasha Siegel (Dell). It’s only been 10 years since the once …

Jewish Online Resources 5/17/24

By Reporter staff

A variety of Jewish groups are offering educational and recreational online resources. Below is a sampling of those. The Reporter will publish additional listings as they become available. 

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will hold the virtual book talk “Neo-Naz…

JBP: The winningest Jewish pitcher of all-time: Kenny Holtzman

By Bill Simons

Do you want a trivia question that will stump all but the most erudite baseball scholars?

Ask who is the winningest Jewish pitcher of all time. It is Sandy Koufax, of course. Except it isn’t. Koufax is the GOAT obviously, but Kenny Holtzman is the winningest Jewish pitcher…

Off the Shelf: Herod: master builder or monster?

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

In one of the Christian stories of Jesus, Herod the Great (73-4 B.C.E.) is portrayed as a monster: he’s said to have ordered the death of innocent children in order to kill a prophesied king of the Jews. In the biography “Herod the Great: Jewish King in a Roman …