The Jewish Family

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store. Death is an uncomfortable topic. It has deprived us of people we love, and we know that, ultimately, it is the one…

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store. When Jews raise their glasses in celebration, they toast “l’chaim!” “to life!” Judaism’s belief in the inherent value of our time in…

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store. The revelation at Sinai was central to the transformation of the people of Israel into a nation. Fresh from their Exodus from…

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store. …

Ours is an age in which the notion that men and women are created with distinct and complementary purposes is seen as little more than thinly veiled bigotry. But one of the great Jewish contributions to civilization is…

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American Jews are facing a demographic crisis. An aging population, low fertility rate, and high rate of intermarriage combine to reveal an exceptionally weak desire to raise up a new generation of Jewish Americans. In this 2005 Commentary…

It is widely known that a substantial number of men from the yeshiva community in Israel study Torah full-time, relying on broad support from the state to supplement their wives’ income in order to sustain their families. Perhaps…

In this 1955 book chapter, the eminent American sociologist Nathan Glazer profiles the American Jewish community in its first three hundred years. He describes the experiences of Sephardi and Ashkenazi immigrants to America: their professions, educations, family life,…

On top of the rising costs of raising a child in America, Jack Wertheimer estimates that “actively engaged” Jewish families pay a premium of “$50,000 and $110,000 a year just to live a Jewish life.” Behind these…

In this 1968 Commentary article, a self-described feminist reflects on the virtues of separate gender roles in the synagogue and in the Jewish family. Separate gender roles prevent women from relieving men of their communal obligations, lowering the…

Synagogue membership rolls have been dwindling, and the Jewish establishment is right to wonder about the fate of the one communal institution around which the religious lives of most Jewish men and women have revolved since the destruction…