From the NY Times State Offers Details Online to Help Determine if Food Is Truly KosherBy JOSEPH P. FRIED Four and a half years ago, a federal judge declared unconstitutional New York State inspection laws that intended to ensure that kosher-labeled food was kosher. Now the state has begun carrying out a new law that…
Upcoming Events “Two Rabbis, Three Opinions” Thursdays, February 24 through March 17 Reform Rabbi Jennifer T. Kroll (Temple Israel) and Conservative Rabbi Jason Miller (University of Michigan, Hillel)discuss the future of Judaism for our generation. What role will we play in years to come? How are we affected by society, Israel, charity, and other topics…
My colleague Rabbi Joshua Hammerman published this article in The NY Jewish Week. He is spot on with his analysis of the Conservative Movement. Lately the Conservative movement has seemed less than concerned about conserving itself. The bad news has come in droves: budget woes at the Jewish Theological Seminary; the flap over gay marriage and…
Lobenthal offers insight on prejudice” By Tom SzczesnyMichigan DailyFebruary 23, 2005 “Traveling home from Ku Klux Klan rallies in cars loaded with dynamite, standing in churches as they were firebombed and waiting for a sheriff to arrive at his burning house to save him from gun-toting KKK members has provided former director of the Michigan…
Think TV is a wasteland? Here are two reality shows that are hip and healing By Rabbi Marc GellmanFrom Newsweek Feb. 16 – After seeing a television picture for the first time some 60 years ago, the writer E.B. White said, “This will either be a grave disturbance or a saving radiant light.” In retrospect,…
From the Scotsman Rabbi Rules on Sticky Problem Your chewing gum has just lost its flavour, but there is no rubbish bin in sight. What do you do? According to Jewish law, get ready to swallow it. A prominent Israeli rabbi has ruled that spitting gum on a pavement or hiding it under a desk…
JERUSALEM – Israelis honored legendary New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, revered by many in the country for his strong Zionist sympathies, by naming a Tel Aviv street after him. The problem is, they can’t seem to spell it right. Eager to correct a long-standing mistake in the Hebrew spelling of the street, Tel Aviv…
Michigan alum’s passing seen as end of an eraSaturday, February 12, 2005BY ROGER LELIEVRENews Arts Writer The death of Arthur Miller, University of Michigan Class of ’38 and the man long considered the country’s most important playwright, marks a milestone for American theater – and U-M.[…]Growing up in New York, Miller worked between 1932 and…
“Show Me the Bread”by Rabbi Jason Miller This week’s Torah portion opens with the repeated instructions for building the Tabernacle, God’s physical dwelling place among the Israelite nation. The detailed narrative calls for the creation of the contents of the Tabernacle (k’lei hamishkan), including the table that would stand across from the menorah in the…
The Conservative Movement’s Double Standard By RABBI AYELET COHEN FORWARD February 11, 2005 For more than a decade, the Conservative movement has proclaimed its welcoming attitudes toward gay and lesbian Jews. As evidence, Conservative leaders have often cited the movement’s 1992 “Consensus Statement,” which affirms that “gays and lesbians are welcome in our congregations, youth…