My upbringing told me I belong in Israel
It’s been a year and a half since my aliyah to Israel, and I’d like to make some things clear. I didn’t leave Dallas, the city where I was born and raised for 19 years, because of any animus toward...
View ArticleJudaism is more than just a religion
Throughout millennia of our existence, we’ve transformed from family to tribe, and from people to nation. For thousands of years, we’ve retained a distinctly Jewish ethnicity, culture and system of...
View ArticleService, not simplification, the key to Judaism
By Matan Rudner Amid a rapidly changing world, the Jewish community, like all communities of faith, is trying its hardest to preserve its heritage, and pass it on to the next generation. In this...
View ArticleState of Israel belongs in the Middle East
By Matan Rudner In the seven decades since the establishment of the third Jewish commonwealth, we have revived our language, made the desert bloom, and ingathered the exiles of our people. Our next...
View ArticleA July 4th reflection: the American in me
By Matan Rudner I have a complicated relationship with America. It’s the place where I was born and raised, where as an impressionable youth I first began to understand the world, and it’s the country...
View ArticleSectarian conflict requires constitutional amendment
By Matan Rudner While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is disproportionately covered by Western media outlets, Americans are far less acquainted with the nonviolent, internal conflicts between opposing...
View ArticleParticularism & universalism: Outlook divides us
I’ve lived my life between the two largest Jewish communities of our time, those of Israel and the United States. And over the past several decades, drastically different levels of religious observance...
View ArticleLiving faith: apply old practices in new ways
I’ve always loved fast days. Maybe because feeling the dedication and mourning in my empty stomach makes my abstract faith feel suddenly very tangible, or maybe because I love breaking the fast at the...
View ArticleFor the sake of Jewish honor
People don’t really like us. We’ve been chased out of country after country, persecuted and discriminated against on six continents (the penguins seem generally averse to anti-Semitism) and in the past...
View ArticleAmerican Jews must stop living in exile
I spent a lot of my time over the past several years explaining to friends, family and strangers why I made aliyah and why I encourage others to do the same. Usually my well-rehearsed elevator pitch on...
View ArticleHebrew is at the core of Jewish peoplehood
I began learning Hebrew as a toddler at Levine Academy. We began with the letters and then over the years dedicated more and more time to learning the ins and outs of language we used in prayers and in...
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Judaism is more than just a religion
Throughout millennia of our existence, we’ve transformed from family to tribe, and from people to nation. For thousands of years, we’ve retained a distinctly Jewish ethnicity, culture and system of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Service, not simplification, the key to Judaism
By Matan RudnerAmid a rapidly changing world, the Jewish community, like all communities of faith, is trying its hardest to preserve its heritage, and pass it on to the next generation. In this mission...
View ArticleClik here to view.
State of Israel belongs in the Middle East
By Matan RudnerIn the seven decades since the establishment of the third Jewish commonwealth, we have revived our language, made the desert bloom, and ingathered the exiles of our people. Our next goal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A July 4th reflection: the American in me
By Matan RudnerI have a complicated relationship with America. It’s the place where I was born and raised, where as an impressionable youth I first began to understand the world, and it’s the country I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sectarian conflict requires constitutional amendment
By Matan RudnerWhile the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is disproportionately covered by Western media outlets, Americans are far less acquainted with the nonviolent, internal conflicts between opposing...
View ArticleParticularism & universalism: Outlook divides us
I’ve lived my life between the two largest Jewish communities of our time, those of Israel and the United States. And over the past several decades, drastically different levels of religious observance...
View ArticleLiving faith: apply old practices in new ways
I’ve always loved fast days. Maybe because feeling the dedication and mourning in my empty stomach makes my abstract faith feel suddenly very tangible, or maybe because I love breaking the fast at the...
View ArticleFor the sake of Jewish honor
People don’t really like us. We’ve been chased out of country after country, persecuted and discriminated against on six continents (the penguins seem generally averse to anti-Semitism) and in the past...
View ArticleAmerican Jews must stop living in exile
I spent a lot of my time over the past several years explaining to friends, family and strangers why I made aliyah and why I encourage others to do the same. Usually my well-rehearsed elevator pitch on...
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