Author: JA Staff

Over the past two years, the frum world has begun turning to the arts to process the aftermath of the bloody Hamas attacks.

What does it take to build a community? In the articles ahead, we meet some of the men and women whose steady efforts have shaped the rhythm of Jewish life in their cities.

How OU Israel’s Teen Center is changing young lives in Ariel

“We want to let our students feel a part of the Israeli melody.”

What do you need to build a community?

HaHashgachah KeHilchatah: Shorshei HaKashrut HaTzibburit (Kosher Certification According to Halachah: The Foundations of Communal Kashrut) by Rabbi Peretz Moncharsh

Taking a Stand Against Phones in Schools, Remembering Tobie and Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Dealing with Dementia, The Human Side of the Disengagement, The Great Z’manim Debate: Rabbi Ahron Notis Responds

  Dear Reader, Forty years is a long time for a magazine. Long enough for the world to change several times over. Long enough for articles written in the eighties to feel both distant and strangely familiar. Over the decades, Jewish Action has published thousands of pieces—profiles, essays, debates—that tried to capture a moment in […]

Almost two years after October 7, these women are continuing to raise their voices—writing, speaking, standing strong and making sure the world listens. 

The Eternal Conversation By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks 

A Senator Remembers Joe Lieberman, Seeing Mezuzot Everywhere You Go, What Not-Yet-Religious Jews Really Want, A Key Ingredient to Success in Outreach, Avoiding Mixed Messages, Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet’s Teaching Career, Debating the Rav’s Position, Rabbi Rakeffet Responds, A Plea for Healthier Kosher Options, OU Kosher Responds

The study aims to develop a more robust and wide-ranging understanding of the different ways and reasons people leave Orthodoxy.

What the study reveals about relationships with religious figures

. . . the experience of leaving [the community] is not binary. Very often, connections remain that are real, important and personal and shape people’s lives.

Marking New Chapter of Growth and Expansion 

Dangerous onions, “kosher” gelatin, and more!

Megillat Ruth Mesorat HaRav—Wintman Family Edition 

A Tragic Rift, More than Doorways, One Shul Fits All?, Moving a Sefer Torah, What about the Matzah? 

Put your dried fruit knowledge to the test!

In the wake of October 7, thousands of American Jews, once disconnected from their heritage, are now embracing their roots. What more can we do to welcome these newly awakened Jews into our community? In the symposium ahead, we feature responses from leading rabbis, rebbetzins and outreach professionals along with showcasing innovative programs in the world of outreach.

So what is the unchanging definition of success in Jewish outreach?

We are not whole without all of our sisters and brothers. This is not a project. This is not a numbers game. This is a family reunion. We miss you; viscerally so.

No judgment, just ahavas Yisrael. That’s the motto of Project Inspire, a national organization that aims to provide positive Jewish experiences for Jews of all backgrounds.

An excerpt from Bein Sheishes Le’Asor by Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe; translation by Rabbi Eliyahu Krakowski.

If you see someone drowning, you are halachically obligated to save him. Similarly, if you see someone drowning spiritually, you must save him. 

We have to realize: These Jews are not going to an Orthodox shul. They’re not coming through the shul doors. We need to be building better doorways for engagement. 

Ote LaParasha by Rabbanit Atira Ote 

A Touching Tribute, Shining a Light on Widowhood, Jewish Unity, My Jewish Self at Work, Affected by War



In commemoration of the first anniversary of October 7, we asked readers to tell us how they were impacted by a day that will live on forever in our hearts and souls.