This is the Moment to Commit to a “Covenant With Our World”
As Reform Jews, we are called, like the generations before us, to build partnerships across lines of difference to advocate for and engage with the oppressed of our day.
Sleepless on Shavuot: Let My People Learn
On the first day of Shavuot, we are supposed to hear the Ten Commandments read in the synagogue, but the main event is the learning binge the night before.
Shavuot in Jerusalem: A Night of Study and a Day to Surf
I know that Shavuot is near when I can hear the fruit vendors in the shuk (open-air market) extolling the virtues of the newly arrived crops of peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines.
Shavuot: The Day God and the Jewish People Wed
The day the Israelites stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, preparing to encounter God, is understood in midrash as the day of marriage between God and the Jewish people.
On Shavuot, Diverse Voices in One Community
Shavuot provides an ideal Jewish textual grounding for celebrating our diversity, and lifting up various and dissenting voices within our community.
Will Borscht Ever Remind My Kids of Me?
My kids would rather starve than eat a blintz or other food with roots in the shtetls of Eastern Europe. They’ll have to find other ways to connect to their Jewish past.
If You Were a Kitchen Utensil, What Would You Be?
The rabbis of Pirkei Avot bring us four kinds of students, and the Mishnah goes on to compare each one to a different kitchen utensil.
How to Bring Biblical Agricultural Traditions to Life
In the 1940s, two Israeli pioneers created a new Jewish holiday specifically for agricultural settlers who were bringing the Jewish people back to working the land.
How To Make Your Own Cheese in Celebration of Shavuot
Jill Zenoff, a Jewish environmental educator and chef, won top prize at this year’s Cheesemonger Invitational. In advance of Shavuot, a dairy-heavy Jewish holiday, she talks about home cheesemaking and her favorite Shavuot recipe.
Remembering the Lessons of Two Different Ruths
Every year as Shavuot approaches, I think about my mother. That’s because her name was Ruth -- just like the book we Jews read on Shavuot.