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Selected Writings By Birthright Judaism Staff:
I. Published Writings on Jewish Topics 1. My Orthodox Life: A Response to 'My Unorthodox Life' Philadelphia's Jewish Exponent, 2021 www.jewishexponent.com/2021/07/30/my-orthodox-life-a-response-to-my-unorthodox-life 2. Reflections on Completing a Tractate of the Talmud Phoenix's Jewish News, 2019 http://www.jewishaz.com/opinion/the-joys-of-learning-a-tractate-of-talmud-in-life/article_67adef1e-562d-11e9-8122-cb3f29218e91.html 3. "Why I Love 'Doing' Jewish" Phoenix's Jewish News, 2018 blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-i-love-doing-jewish/ 4. "Why Do Jewish?" Aish.com, 2016; New Orleans' Crescent City Jewish News, 2017; and Washington's Jewish Week, 2017 http://washingtonjewishweek.com/41954/why-do-jewish/editorial-opinion/voices/ http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/Why-Do-Jewish-for-the-Twitter-Generation.html 5. "What Was 'the' Miracle of Chanukah?" Boston's Shalom Magazine, 2016; Pittsburgh's Jewish Chronicle, 2017; Philadelphia's Jewish Exponent, 2017; Baltimore's Jewish Times, 2017; Washington's Jewish Week, 2017; Atlanta's Jewish Times, 2017 atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/writers/rabbi-joel-e-hoffman/ 6. "Why I Learn Torah Daily" Aish.com, 2016; and a front page 'Top Op' on Times of Israel, 2016 http://www.aish.com/jw/s/Why-I-Learn-Torah-Daily.html 7. "Will the Real Judaism Please Stand Up?!" The Jewish Magazine, 2014 (8 pages) http://www.jewishmag.com/184mag/what_is_real_judaism/what_is_real_judaism.htm 8. "Judaism and Nature" The Jewish Post of New York, 2007; Boston's Jewish Advocate, 2016; and The Jerusalem Post, 2018. (Each printing has different titles and slightly different content) www.jpost.com/Blogs/Rabbi-Joel-E-Hoffman/Judaism-and-the-Natural-World-A-Tu-BShevat-Potpourri-540083 9. "The Spirituality of Cleaning for Passover" ShalomNewHaven, 2005; UJC's Orchard, 2007; Boston's Shalom Magazine, 2016; Detroit's Jewish News, 2017; Washington's The Jewish Week, 2017; Pittsburgh's Jewish Chronicle, 2017; Phoenix's Jewish News, 2018 https://thejewishnews.com/2017/04/07/cleaning-passover-search-spirituality/ http://washingtonjewishweek.com/37771/cleaning-for-passover-and-the-search-for-spirituality/editorial-opinion/voices/ 10. "Why Do the 10 Commandments Begin With an Egyptian Word?" St. Louis’ Jewish Light, 1999; CAJE’s Jewish Spirituality & Healing Newsletter, 2000; New Orleans’ Jewish News, 2003; Shalom New Haven, 2006. (Originally published with the title: "Worshiping God Via the Mundane") blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-do-the-10-commandments-begin-with-an-egyptian-word/ 11. "The Mitzvah of Being B’Simcha (Joyous): The Hasidic Perspective" Pumbedissa Journal, Vol. 8, Number 1 (Fall 2001), pp. 4-6 Only available in hard copy I. Writings on Jewish Education & Society 12. "Let's Rethink the Bar/Bat Mitzvah" Op-Ed: For most kids Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons are a meaningless experience, therefore, Rabbi Joel Hoffman views this as a wasted opportunity and proposes a four-point solution to better educate and inspire our youth. New Orleans' Crescent City Jewish News, 2016; St. Louis' Jewish Light, 2016; Boston's Jewish Advocate, 2016 http://www.crescentcityjewishnews.com/op-ed-lets-reconsider-the-barbat-mitzvah 13. "Retooling Hebrew School" Op-Ed: Rabbi Joel Hoffman, a former Hebrew principal and B.JE. director, shares his ideas for retooling Hebrew school education. Los Angeles' Jewish Journal, 2016 http://jewishjournal.com/opinion/183583/ 14. "Hebrew School is Not the Answer" Op-Ed: The organized Jewish community is hyper-focused on improving Hebrew school education and is spending millions of dollars to experiment with different models. Rabbi Joel Hoffman, a former Hebrew school principal and B.J.E. director, shares his views on why this is ill-placed and posits another strategy to curve the assimilation crisis. Front page 'Top Op' on Times of Israel, 2016 http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/hebrew-school-is-not-the-answer/ 15. "How to Save the Conservative Movement" Op-Ed: Over the past 30 years the Conservative Movement's market share of American Jews has shrunk from 43% to just 18%. The movement is considering allowing patrilineal descent and the performing of intermarriages to retain its members. Rabbi Joel Hoffman offers two other strategies to save the movement. Los Angeles' Jewish Journal, 2016 http://jewishjournal.com/opinion/181470/ 16. "CNN Strikes Again With 'Gods' Warriors'" A review of CNN's three part series on Judaism, Christianity and Islam which points out the anti-Israel bias of CNN. This article is a good primer on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. The Jewish Post of New York, 2007 http://www.jewishpost.com/viewpoints/cnn-strikes-again-with-gods-warriors.html 17. "Why You Should Consider a Jewish Day School for Your Children" JewishNewHaven, 2006; The Jewish Magazine, 2007; and Connecticut's Jewish Ledger, 2007 http://www.jewishmag.com/119mag/jewish-education/jewish-education.htm 18. "How to Engage Generation X in Jewish Learning" CAJE’s Jewish Education News, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Spring 2005), pp. 7-8 Only available in hard copy 19. "Towards Better Certification & Training for Aspiring Jewish Day School Principals" CAJE’s Jewish Education News, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Spring 2003), pp. 44-46 Only available in hard copy 20. "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers: A Case Study" CAJE’s Jewish Education News, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Summer 2002), pp. 42-43 Only available in hard copy 21. "Teaching Spirituality in Jewish Schools" CAJE’s Jewish Education News, Vol.3, No.1 (Spring 2002), pp. 57-60 Only available in hard copy 22. "Education in Biblical Times: Joshua to 933 BCE" The Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Spring 1997), pp. 114-117 III. Blogs (Unpublished) on Jewish Topics 23. "20 Insights into the Ten Commandments" https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/20-insights-into-the-ten-commandments/ 24. "Have You Tried Neo-Hasidism? blogs.timesofisrael.com/have-you-tried-neo-hasidism-everyone-is-doing-it/ 25. "12 Hasidic Insights in the Seder" blogs.timesofisrael.com/12-hasidic-insights-into-the-seder/ 26. "Judaism's Recipe for Obtaining Happiness" www.jpost.com/Blogs/Rabbi-Joel-E-Hoffman/Judaisms-Recipe-for-Obtaining-Happiness-553531 27. "Why Not Intermarry?" blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-not-intermarry/ |
