Humans are rather anxious and restless by nature. That’s what makes us so different from cats, to get back to your original question. Unless cats are hungry or mating or directly threatened, they default to a condition of rest or contentment or tranquility — basically the opposite of humans.

We’ve all been there. Stuck in our own heads, fixated on a two-minute conversation from three days ago. We replay it over and over… Those inner voices can take us to whole other worlds, allow us to imagine different pasts or exciting futures, but they can also trap us in a hell of our own making.

Describing Israel not as a Jewish state, but as the Jewish state brings with it a different set of requirements. Doing so means being open to all Jews, no matter the denomination, and accepting that being the Jewish state goes hand in hand with a commitment to worldwide Jewish pluralism. The fact that the Conservative and Reform movements are marginal in Israel compared to their status in the U.S. doesn’t matter…

With a single state likely to be the inevitable reality, it is past time to start imagining how it could be best implemented. One of the main options is federation, regional governments under a larger federal body. The Israeli government is already inclined to grant regions greater autonomy. According to a recent government report, Israel’s excessive centralization, unusual for a developed country, is causing badly uneven growth across localities.

Who are these women? Shifra and Puah, the midwives, Miriam, Moses’s sister, Yocheved, Moses’s mother, and Bityah, Pharaoh’s daughter (rabbis call her Batyah, daughter of God). Each woman faces the Egyptian leader and his heartless edict to kill Israelite baby boys. Through the text and Midrash, we learn of their impact on the Exodus story…

“Why do these details matter? Imagine you’re starting a business, and you sit down with your team and you create a beautiful vision. But in order to get to where you want to go, you need to get down to details. If you want to manifest something, this is the process.”

Bezalel approached Moses, saying: “Moshe Rabbeinu, the standard practice throughout the world is that a person builds a house and only afterward places the vessels in the house.” Moses replied stubbornly, insisting that the vessels be created first. This interesting machloket (disagreement) pits the sensibility of the craftsman, who considers first the needs of material, against the sensibility of the prophet, who considers first the needs of the spirit.

They also made bells of pure gold, and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates: a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe for officiating in—as the LORD had commanded Moses. Ex. 39:25-6

Rabbi Avraham Greenstein: The bells on the high priest’s garment serve as a reminder that the loftiest positions in Jewish communal life are fundamentally ones of service, service to the Divine through service to the community.

Podcast producer Shanni weighs in on the value of great conversation and her take on current events.

“People are either 100% in it for their identity or 100% in it for their individuality, but you have to find where your balance is.”

After acknowledging the first anniversary of COVID hitting America, the Bagels are not getting ready for the Holiday of Matzah and are reviewing the Golden Globes. From virtual awards shows to what’s newy and Jewy, Esther and Erin explore pop culture through their particular Jewish lens…

This week, Lisa and Aimee are anxious about the internet. Lisa tries to avoid social media while Aimee finds herself going down Instagram rabbit holes late into the night, and they both wonder: Why does it seem like the experience of being online lately is all trolls and no fun?