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I grew up praying to a god in a language I did not understand. In particular, as an observant Conservative Jewish American (that is, “Conservative Jewish, not “conservative, Jewish”), I grew up ...

Sign up for Forwarding the News, the Forward’s morning newsletter with all the news and analysis that matters to American Jews each day. In the 15th hour of a shift ...

Eli Sharabi was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th, and taken hostage by Hamas. Sharabi had never recited the Shema. Until he was in Gaza. Even though he was never a religious man ...

The soul You have given us, oh God, is pure. We make choices that can deepen goodness. And we make choices that can expose inhumanity. And with all your might. It can take an act of incredible might ...

Israeli soldier reciting the Shema prayer near the border in Southern Israel on July 20, 2014. On Monday, July 28, which is Rosh Chodesh Av, Jews around the world are being encouraged to recite the ...

Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen. In the 15th hour ...

b’shiv’t’kha b’veitekha uv’lekh’t’kha vaderekh uv’shakh’b’kha uv’kumekha when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. Ukh’tav’tam al m’zuzot ...