Beliefs & Practices

In Jewish sources, the ideal Jewish society will be situated in Israel and ushered in by catastrophic events.

Early Zionist thinkers envisioned, in great detail, the perfect human--and Jewish--society.

Four texts dealing with non-traditional forms of insemination may--or may not--serve as meaningful precedents for the contemporary debate.

Judaism recognizes the primacy of an inner beauty, but we are nonetheless called upon to care for our bodies and not discouraged from tending to our appearance.

Despite some legal and ethical concerns, single women should not be prohibited from becoming pregnant with donor sperm.

The major codes of Jewish law forbid actions that hasten death, but some allow the removal of impediments to death.

Jewish texts on social justice describe the tension between providing what is needed and providing what is affordable.

Making decisions about tzedakah in the context of a group can be a powerful force in both deepening our spiritual lives and building community.

According to some Hasidic thinkers, human free will is an illusion; God causes all human actions.

Jewish thinkers have both embraced and directly reacted to foreign ideas and philosophies.

The philosophers of the Middle Ages believed they were unearthing existing wisdom, not creating new ideas.

Medieval commentators suggested justifications for God's hardening Pharaoh's heart.