… the questions involved are what is good for women, what is good for religious soldiers, what is good for the military. These are three separate questions, each of which puts the discussion on a different path.

The complex topics that are important to many Americans—things like racism and policing, abortion rights, Ukraine and Russia, and even the Israel-Palestinian conflict—have become grossly over-simplified.

When we sat down for that cup of coffee (or two, or three…), he asked me to recount our previous meetings. For me, those meetings were almost a mirror image of the various issues that came to define his life as a brilliant literary figure and outspoken public intellectual.

…old age arouses a visceral aversion, often a ‘biological repugnance’. Many attempt to push it as far away as possible, denying that it will ever happen, even though we know it already dwells within us.

Minority Report, though it was written and filmed before 9/11, might be Spielberg’s most prescient work of all. Tasked with predicting our near future, he imagined an America filled with dazzling inventions but rotting from the inside out, one in which the erosion of civil liberties is thinly veiled by chest-thumping braggadocio about technology’s power to solve every problem.

Today, many Israelis are embracing a liberal Israeli Judaism, expressed through some 200 communities throughout the country. Most are affiliated with the Conservative and Reform Movements but an increasing number are independent, non-affiliated congregations.

This was the form of the menorah: hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower it was hammered work; according to the form that the Lord had shown Moses, so did he construct the menorah.

-Num. 8:4

Rabbi Michael Barclay: Arguably the most recognizable symbol of the Jewish people, the menorah holds teachings that are more applicable today than ever before in our lifetimes.

In a world filled with misleading headlines and fake news, how are we to discern what to believe and what to dismiss? And furthermore, when it comes to Jewish information, how do we know when and if to trust the answer from Google or Siri? Since we are not Moses and cannot receive verbal communication directly from heaven, we need to rely on other methods.

In its original form, prayer is not asking God for anything; it is not a request. It is a cry; an elementary outburst of woe, a spontaneous call in need; a hurt, a sorrow, given voice. It is the call of human helplessness directed to God.

Cancel culture is spreading from college campuses to the rest of the public square. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, “a country where cancel culture has become pervasive is not a safe place for democracy or Jews.”

Allison Silverman is an Executive Producer for the Netflix series Russian Doll. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that covers a ton of ground: the many and intersecting Jewish layers of the show, a behind-the-scenes look at how a series like this is created, and even whether TV shows like Russian Doll could be a potential source for new Jewish rituals and practices.

Benedetta Guetta, author of the new cookbook Cooking alla Giudia, joins us to discuss the fascinating—and delicious—culinary history of the Jews of Italy.