Tablet Magazine

Super Bowl Sunday: The Forgotten Jewish Holiday

It’s like Rosh Hashanah for football fans. Or is it like Passover? Whatever it is, it’s something familiar for Jews.

I never miss the Super Bowl. One year, when the big game rolled around, I found myself in Bangkok, where kickoff comes half a day later. At 6:00 on Monday morning, I rolled out of my hostel bed, slid into my flip-flops, and walked downstairs to the lobby, where a TV with antennas caught reception good enough to watch Super Bowl XLII—a matchup between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. I ordered juice. The Patriots, my team, were appearing in their fourth Super Bowl in seven years and had become a powerhouse in a league that continually trumpeted parity. Any given Sunday, as they say—words that proved true once again as the heavily favored Patriots lost by virtue of the miraculous “Helmet Catch,” which set the Giants up for a game-winning touchdown. Had I slept, I would’ve missed the drama. And who wants to sleep through history? As a product of central Massachusetts—where Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a deity whose importance on this planet is as vital as that morning coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts—I’ve got football in my blood. Over the last 15 years, the Pats made it to 10 Conference Championships, including this year (they lost)—and in that time, they made it to six Super Bowls, including last year, when they won their fourth title. During that time, my obligation to watch football pushed beyond mere fandom and into religious territory, where it remains....

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Sanhedrin 52 and 53

God in details

February 7, 2025

Encyclopedia

The Dreyfus Affair

[ðə-ˈdraɪ-fəs-ə-ˈfɛr] noun

Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935) was a French Jew and a captain in the French Army who was falsely accused of spying for Germany in 1894. Despite ...

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Re-Form: Zionism

Looking at the current state of Zionism in the Reform movement, with Rabbi Ammi Hirsch

October 22, 2024

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Finding Faith After a Cancer Diagnosis

I stopped talking to God during my pregnancy when I found out I had multiple myeloma. The Book of Job helped renew my connection.

When I decided to become a mother, I approached it as I did most things in my life: with thorough preparation. I scheduled doctor appointments to ensure everything was normal, stopped drinking a year before trying to conceive, and ramped up an already intense workout schedule. I wanted my body to be a temple for my future children. As a type A professional, I thought I’d have it all under control. I did not appreciate how challenging it would be or where the journey would take me, physically and mentally. The first surprise was that I was carrying twin boys—a blessing, but also a shock my husband and I hadn’t anticipated. The second surprise during what would become a grueling pregnancy was being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. My medical team recommended termination, but I refused. The connection I felt with my babies growing inside of me superseded anything else, including my health. I couldn’t give up on them. As the cancer progressed, my doctors wanted me to start treatment, but I insisted only on those that wouldn’t harm the babies. This left limited options, and the cancer spread further. By the second trimester, I needed a cane to walk, and soon I was in a wheelchair. I was given morphine for the pain but stuck mostly to Tylenol, fearing the effects on the babies. Most days, I was home with my husband, and my primary goal: carrying my sons to term. At 29 weeks, my fight reached a breaking point when a tumor the size of a grapefruit was found on my spine. If I didn’t deliver, my boys wouldn’t have a mother. ...

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We faced this grief just over a year after my conversion. My choosing Judaism in the first place was about choosing life.

Zionism: The Tablet Guide

The definitive guide to the past, present, and future of modern Judaism’s most fantastical and magnetic idea—and the West’s most explosive political label.

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Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally

Beshalach

This week’s parsha reminds us that we are the miracle

February 5, 2025

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