Yuval Harari and religion

I have always enjoyed reading books that challenge my preconceptions…writes Jeremy Rosen. Read more

Genesis and the Marshmallow

I was reminded of the famous Marshmallow Experiment last week when I read that Dr. Walter Mischel had died on September 12th at the age of 88. When he was a professor at Stanford, he carried out an experiment on children that became one of the most influential psychological tests, even though over time it has been challenged for its narrow methodology…writes Jeremy Rosen. Read more

Impermanence

In discussing the festival of Sucot, the Talmud gives all the various possible explanations for the origin and purpose of a Succah…writes Jeremy Rosen. Read more

For all our sins…writes Jeremy Rosen

The Torah introduces us to the idea that we confess our sins to God (Leviticus 5:5 and 16:21). To God, not to humans—priests or otherwise—because, according to our tradition, it is a question of human dignity not to demean ourselves in the eyes of other human beings by revealing our errors to other humans. Read more

The Head of the Year

We are about to enter the season of long synagogue services, with a liturgy that, when translated into English or any vernacular, strikes many people as archaic, distant, and even irrelevant. How many of us can make literal sense of most of the concepts?…writes Jeremy Rosen. Read more

Charity begins at home

This is the time of the year when many of us have spent a great deal of money on summer vacations. So it is appropriate to think about how much we give charitably to those less fortunate than we are. Read more

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