Friday March 13, 2026 – כ״ד אֲדָר תשפ”ו When the sirens sound in Israel, everything stops. Parents grab their children and run for shelter. Schools close. Streets empty. In these days of war with Iran, Israelis are living with the daily reality of danger and uncertainty. For Jews in the Diaspora, the experience can feel […]
Friday, March 6, 2026 – י״ז אֲדָר תשפ”ו In this week’s episode of The Pluralist Podcast, my friend, colleague, and co-host, Orly Erez Likhovski, starts out by stating what should be obvious, but often is not: This. Is. Not. Normal. The now seemingly routine act of running back and forth to shelters, sleeping in public […]
Febraury 27. 2026 – י׳ אֲדָר תשפ”ו The word “Zionism” did not emerge accidentally. It was coined in the late nineteenth century by the Austrian Jewish journalist and nationalist Nathan Birnbaum (1864-1937), years before Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress. Birnbaum was searching for language that could capture the Jewish national awakening unfolding in Europe […]
By Rabbi Sam Trief, Rabbi Rachael Klein Miller, and Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus When most people begin rabbinical school, they may imagine late nights with Talmud, spirited debates about theology and Israel, and learning to lead prayer from the bimah. They probably do not imagine meeting their husbands in Jerusalem and eventually moving to Atlanta. […]
Friday, February 20, 2026 – ג׳ אֲדָר תשפ”ו Last week, in Part I, I argued that Zionism is not a relic of 19th-century nationalism but a living movement and the ongoing project of Jewish self-determination. But self-determination is not merely about the right to exist. It is about responsibility to govern. Of course, as Israel […]
Friday February 13, 2026 – כ״ו שְׁבָט תשפ”ו The recently released Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) survey has sent shockwaves through Jewish communal conversations over the past week, and for good reason. According to the survey, less than four in ten American Jews today describe themselves as “Zionist,” even as nearly 90 percent affirm […]
By Rabbi Lindsey Danziger “וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם” שמות כא:א “And these are the laws that you shall place before them.” (Exodus 21:1) Kehillat haPardes began on October 7th, 2023, in the Northern Israeli village of Pardes Hannah, when Rabbi Naomi Efrat awoke to a nightmare. In the confusion and pain of that morning, her first […]
Friday February 6, 2026 – י״ט שְׁבָט תשפ”ו This week, we stand once again at Sinai. We receive the Torah as a sacred text, a moral and ethical guide, our collective narrative and master story, and as the central defining moment of our people – arguably even more formative than our redemption from slavery in […]
January 30, 2026 – י״ב שְׁבָט תשפ”ו For 843 days, 12 hours, and 5 minutes, Hostage Square, just outside of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, served as the emotional and moral epicenter of Israel’s efforts to bring home those taken captive on October 7. The square became a kind of national sanctuary-in-motion: a long, […]
Friday January 23, 2026 – ה׳ שְׁבָט תפש”ו There are a few verses in the book of Exodus that haunt me every time I hear them. “Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians, and every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his […]
