The goal: Bring people back into the synagogue after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them home. The plan: Encourage members to read the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The reward: A ...

When I was younger and still figuring out what religion meant to me, I went to synagogue most Shabbats. I loved the rhythm of the service, the sense of belonging, the melodies that felt familiar and ...

(RNS) — A few years ago, the Conservative congregation of 900 families overlooking Lake Michigan took on a challenge. This past year 210 laypeople stepped up. HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (RNS) — Growing up in ...

This is an adaptation of Looking Forward, a weekly email from our editor-in-chief sent on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. Download our ...

North Suburban Beth El’s Team Torah program recruited their 200th Torah reader this past summer. While most new readers are presented with a cookie at the bimah upon their first reading, the 200th ...

For most of her 88 years, Eva Oles has struggled to square her Orthodoxy and her feminism. "I want to prove and show that halachah," or Jewish law, "is humane," and stretch it to empower women, Oles ...

For Judaism, a religion in its 5783rd year, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In a congregation in Abuja, Nigeria, the country’s capital and eighth most populous city, the Jewish ...

David is 28 years old. He faces the daily struggles of mental health challenges with courage. But more than anything, David ...

That awkward moment when the undiluted Word of God gets in the way of your agenda. On Nov. 13, dozens of Jewish leaders from “Rabbis for Ceasefire” gathered near the U.S. Capitol in Washington to pray ...

Traditionally, women have been locked out of reading the Jewish holy book in Orthodox Holy Day celebrations. But a small movement of female Torah readers is gaining ground both in the United States ...

One of the great sporting events in Orthodox synagogues is correcting the layners — i.e., the Torah readers. The cantillations on the Torah are an intricate, lovely cultural heritage, one of our most ...

For as long as I can remember, the sound of Torah reading has carried something timeless. Whether it was a weekday minyan or a crowded Shabbat morning, those ancient melodies always connected me to ...