The Text: Gen. 9:3-4 moving thing that  lives shall be food for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.  But flesh with its life, which is its blood, you shall not eat. The Context: The world has been created and inhabited.  The humans have been expunged from the Garden of Read More

The Text: Gen. 1:11-12 God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed Read More

The Text: Vezot HaBracha (Devarim/Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12) does not contain relevant references to poverty or hunger. The Context: Vezot HaBracha (Devarim/Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12) does not contain relevant references to poverty or hunger. What it Means for Advocates: Hunger is a serious problem in the United States and throughout the world.  One component of MAZON’s work to end Read More

The following article by Allison Hoffman originally appeared in Tablet Magazine at http://www.tabletmag.com/life-and-religion/45922/in-lieu-of-gifts/. Reposted with permission. When Jason Soll started preparing for his bar mitzvah in 2003, he had a clear goal in mind, and it wasn’t developing a deeper connection to his Judaism. What he wanted, really, was an MP4 video player. “I had Read More