About a Teacher: Jewish Filmmaker Hanan Harchol on the Art of Teaching
Hanan Harchol is a New York-based teacher, filmmaker, animator, artist, and classical guitarist. He was born in Kibbutz Kinneret, Israel, and moved to the U.S. at the age of 2.
Harchol wrote, directed, and produced his first dramatic feature movie, About a
My People Are My People: What Israel's Supreme Court Ruling Means for Jews-by-Choice
The Jewish people have been welcoming people in for thousands of years, and this ruling takes a tremendous step forward in proving that Israel is the Jewish State for all Jews.
Pandemic Passover, Take Two: The Long Journey through the Wilderness
Last Passover began the urgent quest to reinvent much of Jewish life, highlighting that some of the ways we “do” Judaism needed to be updated. This year has been a powerful catalyst to shifts in how we perform our holy work.
Israeli Teens File a Lawsuit Related to Enforcement of Coronavirus Rules
This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all schools in Israel have been closed for most of the year, leaving students stuck at home and trying to complete their studies remotely. All of them are hurting – emotionally and socially.
This New Reform Haggadah Combines Liturgy, Poetry, and Art
The Central Conference for American Rabbis (CCAR) has published a brand new Haggadah. Mishkan HaSeder combines traditional liturgy with an array of contemporary poetry, as well as abstract illustrations that provide readers with something unique to glean from its pages.
Spiritual Audacity: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Story
Martin Doblmeier's inspiring new documentary Spiritual Audacity: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Story is a long-overdue homage to one of the great spiritual teachers and activists of the 20th century.
Heschel taught that one can experience the reality of God
Choosing Your Purim Costume: How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation, Stereotypes, and Racism
Purim approaches, and like every other holiday we've observed during the pandemic, it will look and be different.
My Gap Year in Israel is the Best Decision I’ve Ever Made
Israel is our home. It was in the Torah, and it is now. It sure isn’t perfect, and it might not be around forever, but that’s exactly why we need to come.
Reflections on Observing Black History Month in the Wake of the Capitol Insurrection
This is not yet the America most of us dream of, but it is an unavoidable part of our DNA. American equality and exceptionalism are checks that are still in the mail. If we truly love what this country is capable of, we must continue to speak the hard truth to power.
This Purim, Make Noise to Protest Modern-Day Hamans
We know that religious freedom is not a lesson from ancient stories, but an ongoing quest even today. While many of us are fighting antisemitism in our home countries, we are also in solidarity with the Rohingya people, who have been persecuted for decades.