Is there a special connection between Jews and cats? I have plenty of Jewish friends who have dogs, but I don’t recall any book written connecting Judaism and canines. That’s not true of cats, though. There is the delightful graphic novel “The Rabbi’s Cat” by Joann Sfar, which feat…
The two memoirs seemed to have little in common at first glance. Yet, underlying the authors’ very different lives is a similar theme: the need to adjust to a major life change. In “Becoming Eve: My Journey From Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgendered Woman” (Seal Press), Abby Chava Stei…
Without her voice, I don’t know if I would have made it through high school. That’s not totally accurate: it was both her music and lyrics combined with that awesome voice that made it possible. But I do remember the very first time I heard her sing. I bought her album after looking at i…
Socially distant, but spiritually connected: that is the theme of this year’s Annual Campaign. In choosing a theme, we knew the landscape of COVID would have to be acknowledged. We have all heard these sound bites recently: “we are all in this together” and “this is an unprecedented …
An idealized view of the shtetl used to exist in the American mind – a wonderful place, filled with happy, observant Jews who lived joyous Jewish lives. Over the past several decades, scholars have been disputing that view, showing that shtetl life was more complex and far from perfect. A …
