Bill Maher, Roman Polanski and Barack Obama

Craig Alan Silverman, 11.29.2009

Denver lawyer and co-host of 630 KHOW’s Caplis & Silverman Show

Lineage and religion -- they are killer topics. It's not easy to escape religious roots. No one makes their own choice at birth regarding religion, yet ancestry and religious rules decide a lot.

Health Care, Immigrants, and the Character of Our Country

Jim Wallis, 11.29.2009

Founder of Sojourners; speaker, author, activist

With an issue like health, the faith community has a unique and important role to play -- to define and raise the moral issues beneath the policy debate.

"Turning," or, You Don't Have to Be Jewish (or a President) to Atone on Yom Kippur

Lea Lane, 11.27.2009

Author, six books; editor, sololady.com

On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Jews around the world repent for the past year's sins, wiping the slate clean for another year. But you don't have to be Jewish to ask for forgiveness.

An Interview With the Smart and Savvy Jill Zarin

2morrowknight, 11.27.2009

Author, blogger, internet strategist

Long before being a recognizable celebrity, Jill Zarin had a long record of accomplishment that reveals her to be nothing less than a Renaissance woma...

The Spanish Government Boycotts the Environment

Karin Kloosterman, 11.26.2009

Editor, GreenProphet.com

Boycotting and destabilizing a country's business heart for political reasons is fine in my books. But boycotting art, schools, or the environment? S...

A "Liberal Jew" Responds to Norman Podhoretz

Abby L. Ferber, 11.25.2009

Scholar and Author

The American system did make good on its promises for Jews; this is why so many Jews refuse to support the conservative politics of exclusion and fear. Podhoretz would have us chop down the ladder behind us.

The Tone of Our Atonement: A Meditation for Yom Kippur

Carol Smaldino, 11.25.2009

Psychotherapist

I want to dare to pose the notion of making Yom Kippur a time for softer and longer reflections, about how to make things better, truer, safer for our insides and freer from inner terrors.

I Will Dominate You, Yom Kippur

Dan Abramson, 11.24.2009

Associate Comedy Editor

You call yourself the day of "Atonement." More like day of "shitty Keira Knightley period piece." Burn.

Let's Get Peace Moving Again!

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, 11.24.2009

Spiritual leader of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center in Pasadena, California

Obama has said that good friends should be honest with each other and that he intends to be honest with Israel -- and that looking out for Israel means calling on her to take difficult steps and make painful compromise.

Obama Should Publicly Declare Israel's Failure to Honor International Obligation

Daoud Kuttab, 11.22.2009

Palestinian journalist residing in Jerusalem and Amman.

The summit meeting called for by President Obama on the eve of the opening of the UN general council is both good and bad news for Palestinians.

"Reinventing Ritual" at the Jewish Museum

Oliver Noble, 11.22.2009

Creative director at Heeb Magazine

Reinventing Ritual is a bold conversation about the Jewish future. Who would have thought it would have happened on the Upper East Side?

Glenn Beck: The Grinch Who Stole Yom Kippur

Aaron Keyak, 11.21.2009

Communications Director, National Jewish Democratic Council

It's not insignificant that Beck chose the holiest day of the Jewish calendar to launch his "day of Fast and Prayer for the Republic."

The New Year Begins

Liz Neumark, 11.21.2009

CEO, Great Performances

Heirloom tomatoes, ratatouille and butternut squash soup for Rosh Hashannah: The holiday brings home quiet moments in our lives that are otherwise jammed with obligations and fast meals.

Can There Be Such a Thing as an Israeli Hero?

Bradley Burston, 11.16.2009

Columnist for Haaretz and Senior Editor, haaretz.com

There is a sense that the transgressions of Israelis are so grave that they have lost their right to grieve over their own very real tragedies.

Have the Jews Left the Synagogue?

Rabbi Leah and Rabbi Perry Berkowitz, 11.16.2009

Rabbis of East Side Synagogue

You can't practice Judaism with your grandfather's heart but must approach these days with a new, fresh, different and vibrant style that speaks to someone who lives and struggles in the 21st Century.

What Is Rosh Hashanah and Why Should I Care?

Gahl Eden Sasson, 11.15.2009

Gahl - author of Cosmic Navigator

According to rabbinical lore, Adam and Eve, our primal parents, were created on Rosh Hashanah, which traditionally falls on the New Moon of the seventh month.

Why Not Organize Everything?

Norman Horowitz, 11.15.2009

Senior executive with almost 50 years of diverse media experience

I object to an "organized" day devoted to anything.

'How to Be Happy' and Stop Being Fearful

Francesca Biller-Safran, 11.15.2009

Award-Winning Investigative Journalist and Satirist, covering politics, race, religion

Children are naturally prone to curiosity -- but all too often this is replaced by nurture that cautions against everything that is unknown, leading ultimately to a life ultimately not much worth knowing about at all.

The Great Divide: Rosh Hashanah My Way

Tina Traster, 11.15.2009

Writer, NY Post Burb Appeal Columnist

The sweet yeasty aroma rising from the blessed creation stimulated my salivary glands and my memory. As I reached toward the loaf to tear off an end my husband tapped my hand as though I were an impetuous child: "No," he said, "You've got to wait for it to cool." I really was back in the kitchen with grandma, being taught the virtue of patience.

Redemonizing Judas: Gospel Fiction or Gospel Truth?

Robert Eisenman, 11.13.2009

The entire character of "Judas Iscariot" is generated out of whole cloth and it is meant to be. Moreover, it is done in a totally malevolent way.

Freeze the Settlement Freeze

Daoud Kuttab, 11.11.2009

Palestinian journalist residing in Jerusalem and Amman.

Israelis understand that the only reality in politics is the reality on the ground. So long as Israeli soldiers control the occupied territories, the idea of a settlement freeze will not take root. I