Matrilineal Descent
Why do the orthodox base a Jew’s status on the mother and not the father? Shouldn’t the father be at least as important as the mother? Does the father have any effect at all on the status of the child?
Conversion and Support of Israel
I’m incensed over the Rotem bill currently on the floor of the Knesset. I fully endorse the statement of the United Jewish Federations that this bill, which would give full control over conversions in Israel to the rabbinate, could drive a deep wedge between Israel and Diaspora Jews. What right do the Orthodox rabbis have to control such a global and sensitive issue in a country that belongs to all streams of Judaism?
Chanukah and Christmas
As a mother, every year I am challenged by the proximity of Chanukah to Christmas. How can we possible compete, lighting our candles, with their stunning display of colorful lights filling the malls, decorating their houses and their trees? What do I say when the kids ask me if Chanukah is the Jewish Christmas?
There is so much blatant anti-Semitism throughout the world. Do you have some direction that I can give to my children?
Since the Durban Conference a few months ago and throughout all that’s happening in Israel, France and Russia today, my teenagers are preoccupied with the blatant anti-Semitism throughout the world. I had once thought that the world had learned its lesson from the Holocaust but it seems like the Holocaust never taught these people a thing. Do you have some direction that I can give to my children?