Rabbi Laura Geller

On Saturday night the Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins. It is the anniversary of the giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. Strange, isn't it, that on the holy day we celebrate the Giving of the Law, we traditionally study a book about breaking the law! We read the Book of...

The Talmud tells us: "We were redeemed from Egypt because of the righteousness of the women of that generation." But it doesn't tell us which women. Which women would it be? Who are the women in the story? The first to be mentioned are Shifra and Puah, the midwives to...

Purim is every child's dream holiday; the story is like a fairy tale. Little girls dress up like Esther; little boys like Mordecai. In synagogues around the world we chant the story from the Scroll of Esther, and boo every time the evil Haman's name appears. It is a wonderful...

The conversation is supposed to begin like this: "Will you forgive me for anything I might have said or done this year that has hurt you?" You are sitting with a friend over coffee, during the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and you ask this question. Not easy....

Every year at our Passover seder we ask four new questions. This year the questions will be prompted by the changes in our world, our fascination with the Arab spring and the courage necessary to take risks for change.

Passover is so powerful because it works on four different...

There's a famous joke that purports to describe the difference between religions. I'll clean it up a little so this can be published:

TAOISM: Bad things happen.
BUDDHISM: If bad things happen, it isn't really bad.
HINDUISM: This bad thing happened before.
ISLAM:...

On this 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, there is much to remember. I remember in particular the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of March 25, 1911, a fire that killed more than 140 workers, most of them Jewish and Italian young women immigrants. This tragedy focused national...

A story is told about a father asking his daughter what she learned in religious school. She answers excitedly: "The rabbi told us the story of how the Jews escaped from Egypt and the evil pharaoh. It was amazing. There was this giant airplane that flew down, and thousands of...

I am with my congregants on a Jewish study tour of Morocco following "the footsteps of Maimonides." There in the old city of Fes is the Kairaouine Mosque, constructed in 857 C.E. and connected to what might be the oldest ongoing university in the world. Maimonides was a student there....

Editor's Note: Huffington Post Religion has launched a scripture commentary/reflection series, which brings together leading voices from different religious traditions to offer their wisdom on selected religious texts. We are pleased to announce a series of reflections on scripture associated with the Jewish High Holidays with reflections by...

The Forward, a national newspaper of news and opinion about Jewish life, recently published a list of 50 influential women rabbis in America. It was a response to the annual Newsweek list of the 50 "most influential" American rabbis, which includes very few women, none of whom are high on...