The prophecy of Jacob over Judah is a profound statement of expectation of the coming Messiah, in which every word – indeed ...

What does it mean to love our children equally? It’s a question that many families wrestle with, especially when each parent’s and child’s personality, needs, and circumstance vary so widely.

Jewish tradition honors Joseph as Yosef HaTzaddik — Joseph the Righteous One — precisely because of his capacity to change: ...

The first word in our portion re’eh is one of the most powerful terms found in the Torah. In fact, God is described as a ro’eh on three different levels. The first time the word is found in the Torah, ...

This week’s Torah portion is about mass fear, or better put, how to stave off mass fear. Mass fear makes people, and groups of people, think, say, and do irrational and destructive things. You ...

This week’s Torah portion, Va-yakhel, is the first of two Torah portions concerned with the building of the Mishkan. In next week’s portion, Pekudei, we find the actual dedication of the Mishkan. I ...

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. I was thrilled ...

Every Shabbos, Jews in synagogues of all denominations hear the cantor, rabbi or a layperson chant that week’s Torah portion from an open scroll. But Yiddish scholar Sheva Zucker says you don’t need ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

Our Torah portion, Emor, has the most detailed list in the Torah of the Jewish Festivals and other Holy Days. This Torah portion gives us the opportunity not only to study what the various holidays ...

Most people think the Bar Mitzvah is a religious ceremony in which the 13-year-old assumes adult responsibilities according to Jewish law and tradition. It is. But it is also an opportunity to push ...