In honor of my Prodigious Babes series, I wanted to write this week's Taste of Torah with a focus on the female protagonist of Behaalotecha (Numbers), Miriam. The parashah concludes with a rather bizarre incident: G-d punishes Miriam with tzaraat (a skin affliction) for "[speaking] against" her brother Moses (12:1). To better understand the peculiarity, let's provide context: Miriam gossips...

While the official school year is nearing its close, many students are making plans for the future. For some, this means preparing for a study abroad program and/or traveling to other countries during their much deserved “break time.” As someone who is studying abroad both this summer and next fall, I began to ponder: will I be able to continue...

"Shabbat!" performed by Soof Hacohen and AJ Goldsman, lyrics by Ellie Fridman__________________________ We do not own the rights to the original music. Music credit: "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars __________________________ Ellie Fridman's original parody lyrics can be read h...

Copyright 2014. Shelley Gazin. All Rights Reserved._______________ Some would start a farewell address to Rabbi Chaim in this fashion: “Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller will be retiring this year from his position as Executive Director of the Hillel. As an educator, his greatest achievement lies in the countless students he has taught and inspired. Although he will no longer be present in...

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust As a graduate embarking on a ‘year off’ before law school, I find myself curious to see the world while the shackles of adulthood are still quite loose. My personal wanderlust is fueled both by an innate curiosity for the unknown...

Judaism is an ancient faith that remains strong even to this day, with over 12 million "members of the Tribe" and its own Jewish-majority state. Atheism, on the other hand, is the lack of belief in the existence of G-d or gods — a creed that is sometimes so strong, that it is sometimes considered to be a religion itself....

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Wolpe ______________Entering Rabbi David Wolpe’s office in Sinai Temple was a surreal experience for me. The last time I came to his office, I was 13 years old and with my parents; we all discussed the significance of my first Jewish milestone — my bat mitzvah. We spoke about my interests, my passions, and my future,...

My Mother’s Day was spent visiting the mother of all lands, Eretz Israel. After a short drive to the California Science Center in downtown, my family and I were graced with a long line for the sold out screening of Jerusalem 3D. I walked in assuming the line was for suckers who didn’t get their tickets ahead of time, and...

How can it be that there are so few religious Russian Jews left, when the vast majority of 18th century Jews lived in the Russian Empire? In fact, it is estimated that the Russian Empire had a population of 5.25 million Jews in 1897. How does a group that large lose its orthodoxy and disappear into secularism? With the exception...

A young man, alone in the "hive of scum and villainy" he comes from, becomes inspired by an omnipotent force to carry out a message of clarity and goodness. Basically, your average boy finds religion. Luke Skywalker sought something greater than the desolate deserts of Tatooine — a place so devoid of any happiness that the former mining-settlement-asteroid Polis Massa...