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In observance of Shavuot, Jewish Ideas Daily will not publish on May 28.

Lieberman, Horowitz.

The Book of Life

The High Holy Days are traditionally a time for introspection. Even the sturdiest soul must pause with trepidation over the more harrowing passages in the somber liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Who shall live, and who shall die?

Secret of the Sabbath Yosef Yitzhak Lifshitz, Azure. What is the Sabbath ban on work really about? SAVE

Bring Back the Sabbath Judith Shulevitz, New York Times. Interrupting the ceaseless round of striving requires a surprisingly strenuous act of will, one that has to be bolstered by habit as well as by social sanction. SAVE

Manuals for the Dying Avriel Bar-Levav, Sh’ma. Historically, the work of caring for the dying predated the rituals that came to govern it. (PDF) SAVE

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A Two-Day Weekend in Israel?

With July 4th behind them, Americans can look forward to closing out the summer season with Labor Day on September 5th. All told, they will enjoy ten national holidays. And, of course, they have the leisure of weekends.

Never on Sunday Michele Chabin, Jewish Week. "I remember Sundays from England," said one native Londoner with a nostalgic sigh. SAVE

Working for the Weekend Jonathan Lis, Haaretz. Netanyahu is of two minds on a shortened workweek. SAVE

American Style William Kolbrener, Washington Post. In addition to synchronizing Israeli businesses with the world's markets, a Monday-Friday workweek might allow for a welcome catching of the collective breath. SAVE

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Insight & Analysis

There’s a Key in My Challah! Jeffrey Saks. Torah Musings. Does the post-Passover tradition known as "shliss challah" derive from symbolic readings of the season's texts—or, rather, is it a Christian symbol of Jesus rising in the dough?. SAVE

Sha-bot Gil Student. Torah Musings. Can a robot be a Shabbos goy? The question is not simple, but it is not without Talmudic precedent. SAVE

Choose Your Poison Philologos. Forward. Why do some say l'chaim when blessing wine: to confirm that the drink hasn't been poisoned, to dispel grim associations, or simply to make sure that all present are ready for the blessing?. SAVE

Faith is Not Quite the Word Martha Himmelfarb. Daily Princetonian. The scholar of religion talks about Israel, interreligious friendship, trends in American Judaism, and her own practice, including saying kaddish for her father, sociographer Milton Himmelfarb. (Interview by Robert George). SAVE

“The Stamp of My Jewish Existence” Milken Archive of Jewish Music. Born August 18, 1910, Herman Berlinski was a prolific composer of sacred music whose masterworks include a complete setting of the (Reform) Friday-evening service. (With audio and video.). SAVE

Missing Ingredient Gil Student. Torah Musings. If Jewish theology is whatever Jews happen to be thinking about religion, then it is idiosyncratic and meaningless; so how should it be defined?. SAVE

Heart to Heart Hart Levine. Jewish Week. An undergraduate Jewish "insider" who devised a means of bringing Jewish "outsiders" in has seen his model adopted at eighteen college campuses. SAVE

The Weekly Portion

B'midbar: Tribe and Staff

Torah Talk with Michael Carasik

B'Midbar: Tribe and Staff

When is a tribe not a shevet? When it is a mateh (and vice versa). We begin "the Book of Tribes" this week, and one of the two Hebrew words for "tribe" will play a major role. (Click here for source sheet.)

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The Weekly Portion

B'har-B'hukotai: A Jeffersonian Jubilee

Torah Talk with Michael Carasik

A Jeffersonian Jubilee

It's the section about the jubilee year, so naturally I'm thinking about Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson. . . (Click here for source sheet.)

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The Weekly Portion

Emor: More than Kin, and Less than Kind

Torah Talk with Michael Carasik

Emor: More than Kin, and Less than Kind

Leviticus tells the priests they must avoid ritual contamination with death—unless the death is that of a close family member. But the text uses a standard Hebrew word in a very unusual way in order to issue this command. (Click here for source sheet.)

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The Weekly Portion

Aharei Mot-K'doshim: Abide with Me

Torah Talk with Michael Carasik

Aharei Mot-K'doshim: Abide with Me

This week we are told that the Tent of Meeting "abides" in the midst of the Israelites—something that a tent ought not to be doing. (Click here for source sheet.)

Download | Duration: 00:11:28

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