For years, July 4th was an annual reunion as my extended family gathered poolside to enjoy good food and relaxing celebration leading to evenings of magnificent sounds and colors of fireworks.  Family trips were scheduled with anticipation of seeing relatives and frolicking together.  Still, I am keenly aware this day was not always marked with such frivolity or individual vacation-like activities. Read more...

If one had to briefly describe the Fourth of July, they might say that it is a holiday commemorating a rebellion by America against their British ruling power. In acquiring this independence, America was able to forge a land open to diverse views and population groups, something we commemorate on Independence Day (also known as the Fourth of July). It is interesting that this year, as we approach the Fourth of July, we find that it directly follows parshat Korach. Read more...

This week, beloved teacher and university rector Rabbi Elliot Dorff celebrates his 50th anniversary at AJU. For more information on Rabbi Dorff's role and mission, please read the article published in the Jewish Journal by clicking here.  Over the past five decades, Rabbi Dorff's teachings on ethics, law, theology and interfaith work have impacted Jewish and American communities nationwide.  Read more...

It’s the repeated theme of the musical “Hamilton”: Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? As Lin Manuel Miranda writes in his notes to the libretto of the show (in “Hamilton, the Revolution” which Miranda wrote with Jeremy McCarter), “Once I wrote this passage, I knew it would be the key to the whole musical... It’s the fundamental truth all our characters (and all of us) share.” Read more...