This week’s parasha is a reminder of why we must never exaggerate evil, a lesson ignored by recent pop culture hits, from TV’s Damages to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy

From chanting at the Western Wall to saying Kaddish, several organizations offer to pray on your behalf, for a fee they claim to donate to charity. Is a farmed-out prayer as effective as a personal one?

When memoirist Janice Erlbaum was 13, she was elated to attend the bar mitzvah of her secret heartthrob. But when she found herself hanging with the mean girls, things turned less celebratory.

The government should follow Moses’ example and drop its prosecution of hacker Aaron Swartz, who downloaded millions of academic articles but broke no discernible law

This week’s parasha is proof that even God changes his mind. Congress must do the same and finally pass legislation prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The misguided prophet Balaam—who knew that words have meanings and must be used judiciously—should be the patron saint of the Internet

The Dutch parliament moved last week to prohibit the ritual slaughter of animals, putting the notoriously tolerant Netherlands on a path to ban a practice key to both Jewish and Muslim observance

Forget those sexy vampires and shirtless werewolves. Only zombies represent the Torah’s true teachings on life and death, reminding us that death is just a part of life.

We are all—from Anthony Weiner to Chelsea Handler to the lazy guy who’d rather watch TV than read a book—afflicted by an epidemic of frivolity. But Moses, who faced it, too, has a cure.

Seduced by lower rents and edgy bars, a former Hasid moves to hipster Brooklyn. But what he gains in nightlife, he loses in camaraderie. What happened to nosy neighbors?

Werner Herzog and Moses agree: Truth reveals itself in mysterious ways, hidden from the cold and critical eye and available only to those prepared to indulge in fantasies

Observing Shabbat doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing affair: Going offline and saying the blessing over the wine—and the occasional martini—can help mark a relaxing weekly ‘cathedral in time’