Features

Jewish sages and Jewish wisdom

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Jewish sages
When people discuss the Talmud, they usually speak about its legal (halachic) aspects. However, its pages are also filled with aggadic material – stories about the ancient rabbis that were used to teach lessons or illustrate a point. In “The Snake a…

Fleischmann's Field of Dreams: Jewish Time Stamps, Part II

By Bill Simons

It is Shabbat, Saturday, June 26, 2021. Dozens of hasidic women, children and men walk the streets and pathways. The women are dressed conservatively, and the men, with side curls and beards, are, despite the advent of summer, attired in traditional, black-brimmed hats and l…

Jewish Online Resources 8/13/21

By The 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 Biblical Archaeology Society will hold its 24th Annual Bible and Archaeol…

Off the Shelf: Exploring the Biblical Text

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“Turn it and turn it again, for everything is in it.” These words by Ben Bag Bag in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) refer to the Torah. The study of Torah is never ending because there is always something new to learn, at least for those who are open to nove…

Off the Shelf: Sewers and Sanitariums

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Even when I promise myself I’ll take a break from World War II novels, there are always some that grab my interest. For example, I’ve enjoyed Pam Jenoff’s work and, when I saw that her latest novel “The Woman with the Blue Star” (Park Row Books) was gettin…