Commentary

I am often puzzled as to why the Aramaic word “bar” is applied instead of the Hebrew “ben” (son) to define the mitzvah of a male child’s Jewish maturity.

(Jewish Journal via JNS) Politicians are often asked to expressly condemn Nazis, and to disassociate themselves from any groups that might have Nazi sympathies.

To put it mildly, 2021 was not an easy year for Israel or any other country.

At this time of year-end recollections, we cannot forget that antisemitism has reached historic levels this year, including attacks on Jews in the streets of Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Southern Florida. But the year has not been entirely bleak. There has been good news.

I became a rabbi to aid the living, to ensure our survival, to rekindle the Jewish flame. I am proud - proud of my heritage, proud of our strength, and proud of my beloved parents.

This year, The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle’s 101st, saw change in both the newspaper and in the community. The Chronicle’s goal for 2021 was as it always has been: to inform, educate and serve the community.

By Rabbi Barry H. Block
JTA

In “The Social Justice Torah Commentary,” Rabbi Brian Stoller describes a turtle-shaped dinner bell that his great-grandmother used to summon a Black butler to attend to her needs at the family’s Shabbat table.

Dara Horn’s People Love Dead Jews: Tales from a Haunted Present is the book that launched a thousand Jewish podcasts.

Every home needs a kitchen, especially a Jewish home. The kitchen might serve as a back-end facility while the entertaining and festivities occur in the dining area, but no one disputes the centrality of a well-appointed kitchen to a functioning home.

According to the biblical narrative (Genesis 23), Jewish history in the Land of Israel began in Hebron when Abraham, needing a burial site for Sarah, purchased the Machpelah cave from Ephron the Hittite.