Today He Is a Fountain Pen
President Obama gives a bar mitzvah speech to Reform conference
Becoming Women
Bat mitzvahs tell us less about tradition than they do about how girls create rites for coming of age, as the new book Today I Am a Woman shows
Coming of Age
Writing a song for my synagogue, hearing it sung at Lincoln Center, and finally finding the right words to tell my kids why Judaism is important
Mixed Messages
An increasing number of intermarried couples are choosing to raise their children with two religions. Three videos, part of a Columbia Journalism School project, allow interfaith kids to speak for themselves.
In Good Company
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.
In Lieu of Gifts
Forgoing the usual bar and bat mitzvah swag, some teens are asking guests to contribute to charity
Goldstone Bows Out From Grandson’s Bar Mitzvah
Pressure from S. African community will keep the judge from joining the hora
Saturday Night Fever
Why some families are opting for havdalah bar or bat mitzvah services
Ben-Gurion
The Tenth Man
The key to Christopher Hitchens wasn’t his iconoclasm; it was his desire for belonging—and the proof can be found in an unexpected place
Cheap Eats
An entrepreneur opened a Jewish-themed restaurant in Lviv, Ukraine. Chopped liver is on the menu, but not its price—diners get to haggle over it.
Grace Notes
Orthodox klezmer and bluegrass virtuoso Andy Statman and evangelical country star Ricky Skaggs cross genres and faiths to form a mighty duo
Goodbye to All That
For generations, the Jews of Caracas had idyllic weather, prosperity, and vibrant communal organizations. Things have changed under Hugo Chávez.
