Podcast: Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life by Jack Wertheimer

Podcast: Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life by Jack Wertheimer

The American Jewish philanthropic enterprise is unparalleled in scope, dynamism, and the diversity of funders and the causes they support. Yet even as Jewish giving has been largely successful in responding with alacrity to emergencies, it has been subjected to severe criticism. What once was regarded as a point of pride has become the object of scorn and dismissal, with skepticism–if not harsh criticism–about its work rife both within and outsi…

Mezuzah and minyan: Holding Jewish life together

Across cultures and religions, the doorway is more than wood, hinges, and locks. It marks the boundary between the outside world and the values carried within. That is exactly where the Torah places one of Judaism's most familiar commandments. The Hebrew word mezuzah means "doorpost," referring to the actual frame of the entryway, not to the decorative case. The words inside the...