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A yoetzet halachah, or Jewish legal counselor, answers a hotline for women with questions relating to Jewish laws on sex and intimacy.
A yoetzet halachah, or Jewish legal counselor, answers a hotline for women with questions relating to Jewish laws on sex and intimacy. (Courtesy Nishmat)

Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex

By Dina Kraft · October 29, 2009

The emergence of yoatzot halachah -- women scholars serving as authorities in Jewish law -- marks something of a quiet revolution in an Orthodox world dominated by male authorities. It also is enabling women to ask the questions they have about one of the most important areas of Jewish law: sex. Read more »

Big stars and nuts and bolts at the GA

By Jacob Berkman · November 3, 2009

The annual conference of the Jewish federation system, which is set to take place Nov. 8-11 in Washington, will be highlighted by big-name guest appearances, but the conference itself promises to be heavy on the nuts-and-bolts fund-raising issues facing local federations. Read more »

Slimmed-down Reform group opens biennial

November 5, 2009

Leaders of the Union of Reform Judaism stressed the group's consolidation of services at the start of its biennial conference. Read more »

Holocaust memorials go up in Eastern Europe, with some flaws

By Ruth Ellen Gruber · October 30, 2009

Some new monuments whose positioning and design make them prominent provide little or no information as to what they commemorate, but still are important as a permanent presence. Read more »

Photos and Videos

A Havdalah service with homemade candle, salt shaker spice box, paper cup and grape juice, make all the difference on a Halloween eve. (Edmon Rodman) Isaac Bashevis Singer, who earned a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978, will be among the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia. (Corbis-Bettmann) Barbra Streisand will be among the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia. (Corbis-Bettmann) Sandy Koufax, the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger who would not pitch a World Series game on Yom Kippur, is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and now will join the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) Golda Meir, the only woman to serve as prime minister of Israel, is among the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia. (Library of Congress) Isaac Lesser, rabbi, author, translater, editor and publisher, is in the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia. (Library of Congress)

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  • Nir Birkat, Mayor-Elect of Jerusalem, introduces his civic agenda to the United Jewish Communities General Assembly on November 17, 2008.
  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addresses the 2008 United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Jerusalem.
  • Tzipora Livni, Israel's Foreign Minister and a candidate for Prime Minister, addresses the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, discussing what it means for Israel to exist as a Jewish state.
  • A Havdalah service with homemade candle, salt shaker spice box, paper cup and grape juice, make all the difference on a Halloween eve.
  • The only know video footage of Anne Frank has been released.
  • Isaac Bashevis Singer, who earned a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978, will be among the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.
  • Barbra Streisand will be among the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.
  • Sandy Koufax, the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger who would not pitch a World Series game on Yom Kippur, is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and now will join the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.
  • Golda Meir, the only woman to serve as prime minister of Israel, is among the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.
  • Isaac Lesser, rabbi, author, translater, editor and publisher, is in the first group chosen for the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.
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RSS Feed More in Jewish Life

Reform endorse qual treatment for Israeli Arabs

November 6, 2009

The Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution urging equal services for Israeli Arabs. Read more »

Leipzig becoming Orthodox Jewish hub in Germany

By Ben Harris · November 5, 2009

Due in large part to Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union, Leipzig has become an Orthodox Jewish hub, funneling students from around the region to institutions of Jewish learning in Berlin and beyond. Read more »

German city juggles challenges, benefits of Russian Jewish immigration

By Ben Harris · November 5, 2009

The arrival in Germany of some 90,000 Russian Jewish immigrants over the last 20 years has enabled an astonishing rejuvenation of Jewish life in Germany, but also handed German Jews the challenge of integrating a culturally and linguistically distinct group that generally lacks Jewish knowledge and an understanding of democratic norms. Read more »

Can Jewish tenets be a model for a more eco-friendly world?

By Gil Shefler · November 4, 2009

Jewish representatives to a faith-based climate change conference in Britain argued for eco-friendly measures based on the Jewish tenets of Shabbat, kashrut and shmita. Read more »

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