Brooklyn Jewish school installs bullet-resistant classroom doors in wake of...
An Orthodox girls’ school in Brooklyn has installed bullet-resistant classroom doors to keep out shooters. Bnos Menachem in the heavily Hasidic Crown Heights neighbourhood is the first of more than 50...
View ArticleHungary’s population has highest amount of Ashkenazi genes after Israel,...
Genetic tests conducted in Hungary suggest that the relative prevalence there of Jewish genes is double that of the United States. In recent testing conducted by the MyHeritage firm and the Institute...
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Many Soviets lost their connection to Judaism, but that’s been changing
For many Jewish people, living in the U.S.S.R. meant that their Judaism had to take a back seat. As a result, many Russian-speaking Jews lost their connection to their heritage. Things changed when the...
View ArticlePittsburgh rabbi calls on US attorney general to forgo death penalty for...
Don’t seek the death penalty for the Pittsburgh synagogue gunman. That’s the message from a spiritual leader at one of the three congregations that share the Tree of Life synagogue building to U.S....
View ArticleGertler: Committed to combatting anti-Semitism on campus
Crisp fall days, ivy-covered courtyards, a shift in energy as the days grow shorter. Beginning university for the first time – or returning after a long summer break – is an experience that will stay...
View ArticleThe Jewish origins of the Vulcan salute
“Live long and prosper.” These words, along with the Vulcan salute, are immediately recognized and associated with Star Trek, which is celebrating the 53rd anniversary of its first episode this month....
View ArticleRise of the vegan Jew
In October 2018, Robyn Karmazyn got married. It was, in many ways, a wonderful event, held at Beth Torah, a popular Conservative synagogue in north Toronto. She and her husband stood under the huppah...
View ArticleVale: A chance encounter that made a big impact
Last month, I became the interim rabbi of a Toronto shul. This is the third synagogue where I have served in this capacity. It gives the congregation time to do a proper search for a permanent...
View ArticleDiamond: The resiliency of Jews and the tenacity of our enemies
We Jews are a unique breed. We are tied together by our traditions, through our shared history and by our religion. Also drawing us together is knowing that we are each a valuable member of a people...
View ArticleMy big, fat, same-sex, interfaith Jewish wedding
I recently officiated a wedding that knocked my socks off. What made this wedding beautiful was the two men standing under the huppah: Jason, a bright, opinionated Jewish guy from Toronto, and Hon, a...
View ArticleFrom ultra-Orthodox rabbi to transgender woman
Abby Stein’s new book, Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman, is a rare peek into the cloistered world of New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community – and it’s not...
View ArticleExamining the legacy of Jewish mother guilt
Let’s begin with a joke my boyfriend shared: a Jewish mother buys her adult son a brown shirt and a blue shirt for his birthday. He has a hard time choosing which one to wear to visit his mother, but...
View ArticleMarmur: Crafting a distinctly Israeli form of Judaism
Israel has helped to create a new Jew, but not a new Judaism. All the religious streams in the Jewish state come from the Diaspora and have remained relatively unchanged. It just goes to show that it’s...
View ArticleLegendary barber’s family secret becomes gripping theatre
Gino Chiarella, who has owned the barbershop in Hotel Ruby Foo’s in Montreal since 1974, can boast that 90 per cent of his customers are Jewish. Some have been coming for decades. Gino & Dino is...
View ArticleTrump to sign order recognizing Jewish university students as a protected class
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order recognizing Jewish university students as a class protected from discrimination. The order, to be signed Wednesday, according to The New York Times,...
View ArticleGhanaians connect to the Jewish world through smartphones
The people of Sefwi Wiawso may be living in a remote, rural part of western Ghana, but thanks to the efforts of a Canadian support group, the community is accessing the Internet and increasing their...
View ArticleThe war on Christmas’ Jewish roots
It’s as predictable as Christmas trees and seasonal gift-giving: every winter, as the Christian world prepares to celebrate Christmas, some senior Palestinian figure makes the claim that Jesus wasn’t...
View ArticleVale: Judaism is much more than food
I was recently at Baycrest for pastoral care purposes. That’s a fancy way of saying I was visiting with people who are sick or elderly. The elevator taking me back down to the lobby stopped at one of...
View ArticleTytel: It’s a (Jewish) dog’s life
My father always said he wanted to come back to life as a dog in a Jewish home. No one, he said, gets treated better. He wasn’t kidding. Growing up my siblings and I constantly begged for a pet dog. My...
View ArticleHorowitz: The importance of Jewish studies
Around this time of year, intense deliberations occupy university-bound high school students and their parents. When students have options – because of their academic merit, some measure of family...
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