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Articles by Ruthie Hollander
A Love that Outlasts
James Jacques Joseph Tissot: "Abram's Counsel to Sarai." On display at The Jewish Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. She sees a stranger in the distance, and an almost sacred intuition thrums within her. Rivkah dismounts the camel and asks her guardian who the man is. “That is my master,” he answers. Around her the grasses move like water, graceful with promise. She veils herself and takes another step forward.
Do middot actually matter?
There’s a quote from Vayikrah Rabbah on the walls of the Ramaz Lobby: “Good character is a prerequisite for Torah.” The message is literal; according to our sages, there were 26 generations who demonstrated good character before the laws of the Torah were given. But it’s also moral: begin with teaching menschlichkeit. Prioritize middot. The laws, the minutiae, are important too. But start with the rules of how to treat others; refined and respectful language; generosity and responsibility.
And salt she became
Eshet Lot. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Out in the small and insignificant plains of Tzo’ar, writes the Sefer HaYashar, stands a pillar of salt. “The oxen which frequent that place daily lick the salt pillar until they come to the toes of its feet, but by morning, all they licked off would grow again to be consumed again the coming day, even to this day.” A salt pillar; a monument. All that remains of the wicked legacy of Sodom and Amorah.
We Are, After All, Kin
More than 1 in 4 American adults are estranged from a family member. That’s not a guess. It’s based on data collected by the Cornell Family Estrangement & Reconciliation Project. “I began to notice in these interviews I was conducting with very old people that among the regrets that the oldest Americans have, one of the truly strongest is an unresolved family estrangement,” the project’s lead, Karl Pillemer, said in an interview.
The Beauty of the Slow and Steady
There is a story my daughter loves called “King David and Akavish the Spider,” based on the tale of the spider who saved David’s life by hiding him from King Saul’s soldiers. The message, of course, is that even a small and seemingly insignificant arachnid can have a powerful impact on the course of history. As adults, we are taught to forget these stories, taught to believe that change comes in the heavy tread of the elephant or the powerful roar of the lion.
The First Collective Effervescence
Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. Please contact us in case of abuse. In case of abuse, Report this post. Tobias Verhaecht, The Tower of Babel, late 16th/early 17th century. Public Domain. When the Torah portion restarts and we begin again, I always pay attention to the firsts.
The Blogs: Nooses aren't cute
Screenshotted from Lizzy Savetsky's social media. If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and you hang him on a tree, you must not let his corpse remain on the tree overnight, but must bury him the same day, for an impaled body is an affront to God. You shall not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. (Deuteronomy 21:22–23) It horrifies me that it needs to be said, but it does: Nooses aren’t cute. They’re not fashion statements.
When God grieves: Ayeka, Eikha
Image by Ruthie Hollander, made with Canva elements. I recently tried to explain the concept of a rhetorical question to my 4-year-old. “I know the answer to the question,” I told her. “I’m asking because I want you to think about it.” In Parashat Bereishit, mankind is asked the first rhetorical question. Following Adam and Chava’s sin, the omniscient God calls out to the first people — Ayeka? Where are you? God knows where they are. That’s not the question God is really asking.
5 reasons to be upset about Mamdani’s October 7 tweet
The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed.
Writing the Unspeakable: October 7 in Jewish Novels
I Read This Over Shabbos is a weekly newsletter from Rivka Bennun Kay about Jewish book culture, book recommendations, and modern ideas. Receive this free newsletter every week in your inbox by subscribing here. Questions, comments, or feedback? Email Rivka at Shabbosreads@18forty.org. The horrific events of October 7, 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza have been put to paper by some of the most gifted and striking voices in contemporary Jewish nonfiction.
Ruthie Hollander's Blog
Ruthie is the Director of Community & Youth Programming at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Outside of work, you'll find her raising two beautiful daughters with her husband, developing ideas for Jewish continuity and culture, and thinking about the stories no one is telling.
It happens here, too
On an Instagram post by a Jewish community account regarding the recent case of Jane Doe — a Cornell sophomore who was allegedly drugged and raped by seven fraternity brothers — I read a comment that struck me. Wouldn’t have happened at YU, it said, or something along those lines. I have news for the commenter: It does happen at YU. It happened to me, and it happened to friends of mine. And YU handled it no better than Cornell did.
Holy Disruptions
In Days of Awe, the Nobel laureate S.Y. (Shai) Agnon recorded a story about an ignorant young boy who could not read Hebrew or pray.
Hasan Piker, Donald Trump, and the death of the political moderate
Images of Trump, El-Sayed, and Piker from Wikimedia Commons; design by me. When Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed won a neck-and-neck primary, the popular Twitch streamer and liberal “kingmaker” Hasan Piker had a message for El-Sayed’s detractors: “Everyone being like, Abdul has a f*ck-ton of work to do mending bridges, here’s the f*cking take-nuke for you, okay? You are all unbelievably Islamophobic pieces of sh*t.” Meanwhile, President Donald Trump had a different take.
Hasan Piker, Donald Trump, and the death of the political moderate
When Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed won a neck-and-neck primary, the popular Twitch streamer and liberal “kingmaker” Hasan Piker had a message for El-Sayed’s detractors: “Everyone being like, Abdul has a f*ck-ton of work to do mending bridges, here’s the f*cking take-nuke for you, okay? You are all unbelievably Islamophobic pieces of sh*t.” Meanwhile, President Donald Trump had a different take. “He doesn’t love Israel. He doesn’t love Jewish people. He hates them.
Mayor Mamdani: Listen, before it’s too late.
At a small event run by JFNA a year ago, the current Israeli ambassador to the United States, Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Leiter, said something profound about his role.
Mayor Mamdani: Listen, before it’s too late.
At a small event run by JFNA a year ago, the current Israeli ambassador to the United States, Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Leiter, said something profound about his role.
The two deaths of Megillat Rut
They say you die twice: once when you stop breathing, and again when your name is spoken for the last time. Megillat Rut doesn’t open this way, but it could. The line, often attributed to Hemingway or Banksy, captures a deep human anxiety: being forgotten — for many, a fate worse than death. So universal is this fear that it has its own discipline called existential psychotherapy.
The two deaths of Megillat Rut - Ruthie Hollander
They say you die twice: once when you stop breathing, and again when your name is spoken for the last time. Megillat Rut doesn’t open this way, but it could. The line, often attributed to Hemingway or Banksy, captures a deep human anxiety: being forgotten — for many, a fate worse than death. So universal is this fear that it has its own discipline called existential psychotherapy.
Something historic is happening right now. Will we pay attention?
When the bloomer was invented in the 1800s, it sparked widespread condemnation. Nevermind that women’s clothing of the time was restrictive, heavy, and at times could even be dangerous — the swathes of fabric, panniers, and hoops were viewed as virtuous. And in contrast, the woman who wore bloomers was indecent and unfeminine. “The model bloomer leaves her poor young husband pouting and weeping at home,” asserted one author in the 19th-century publication Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion.
Something historic is happening right now. Will we pay attention?
When the bloomer was invented in the 1800s, it sparked widespread condemnation. Nevermind that women’s clothing of the time was restrictive, heavy, and at times could even be dangerous — the swathes of fabric, panniers, and hoops were viewed as virtuous. And in contrast, the woman who wore bloomers was indecent and unfeminine. “The model bloomer leaves her poor young husband pouting and weeping at home,” asserted one author in the 19th-century publication Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion.
SubwayTakes and the easy way out
“So what’s your take?” “There should be a kids’ section on flights,” opines the young woman with big teeth and big earrings. “100% agree,” the interviewer shoots back. “There should be a kids’ section everywhere.” This conversation is one of hundreds, maybe even thousands, hosted by the curly-haired, casually debonair Kareem Rahma of SubwayTakes. It’s a simple but effective model, one that appeals to his large social media following.
We Need More Spaces to Be Boldly, Loudly Jewish – Kveller
When I traipsed into Lower Manhattan, eight months pregnant and holding my 3-year-old daughter’s hand, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into. I’d screenshotted the event from the Jewish Book Council on Instagram — “A Jewish bookstore is popping up in downtown Manhattan for two days only” — and shared it with my husband, who agreed immediately that we needed to go.
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun Celebrates Rabbi Haskel Lookstein And Expanded KJ Beginners Program
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein with KJ’s Directors of Community Education Rabbi Daniel and Rachel Kraus. On Rosh Hashanah, Linda stood in front of a large audience. An appellate litigator, a filmmaker, the daughter of Holocaust survivors and a wife and mother of two, she was composed—but her words were vulnerable. “I am a true beginner,” Linda said. “I am still nervous about the responsibility of speaking to you about the Torah because there is so much that I don’t know and so much that I want to learn.
The Blogs: Do our souls still shudder?
I woke up today with my stomach in knots. Some part of me kept asking why I was so unsettled. I’m not a particular fan of Charlie Kirk; I don’t follow him on any social media platforms. But I also hadn’t found myself quite so disturbed after the shooting of Minnesota lawmakers a few weeks earlier. It wasn’t the rhetoric surrounding his death, left and right, blaming one another’s policies. And it wasn’t even the smiling pictures of Kirk with his beautiful young family. It’s tragic.
What the 18Forty Team is Reading This Month
We’re nearing the final stretch of summer, a time when people tend to kick back, relax, and enjoy the last few weeks of sunshine before autumn hits. Naturally, a good read is in order, so we bring you 18Forty’s picks for the month of August. This month, our team is reading a range of genres—whether it’s groundbreaking 20th-century feminist theory or Medieval Jewish philosophy, you’ll always find us with something interesting to read.
The Blogs: What we lose when we acknowledge Palestinian suffering
Around 3000 years ago, Elijah the Prophet made an ominous statement: no rain or dew would fall in Israel as a result of King Ahab’s idol worship. God, anticipating Ahab’s vengeful wrath, encouraged Elijah to hide in a wadi in the North. There, God would send ravens to bring Elijah food. Why ravens? Malbim, a 19th-century commentator, viewed their utilization as symbolic, implying Elijah should think harder about his choice to bring drought to the land.
The Blogs: The man who kept nine commandments
As a teenager, I stayed in a small European country for a summer with my family, where I met a rabbi who brought kosher food to a Jewish man convicted of murder. The rabbi’s kids — who often joined their father on visits to the prison — whispered to me that they had nicknamed the inmate “the man who kept the nine commandments.” I always found this strangely touching. The family wasn’t delusional; they knew what the man had done and didn’t excuse it.
The Blogs: The Torah story I’ve always avoided — and why I’m rethinking it
I didn’t want to write a d’var Torah this week. When my husband asked why I was procrastinating, I hadn’t yet put my finger on it. But the real reason, I realized, is that I don’t like the story of Pinchas. Some of that distaste is probably rooted in how the story was first taught to me. My middle school teachers seemed to relish the gruesome details of Pinchas’s zealous act. I remember them describing how he “shish-kebabed” the Israelite man and the Moabite woman engaged in an illicit affair.
The Blogs: From Moab to Moab
We stood at the edge of the Mesa Arch in Utah an hour after sunrise. The crowds had moved on to other hikes. It was silent, except for the wind moving through the stone, carved by the elements centuries earlier. Peering through the arch to the canyon thousands of feet below, God felt close — and I felt small. Two nights earlier, driving through Arches National Park, we had looked for the park’s famous rock formations: the Lovers. Park Avenue. Balanced Rock.
The Blogs: Grandpa called it bullsh*t. But I call it life
My Grandpa Larry had a complicated relationship with faith. He never left the house without his Star of David necklace, but his favorite food was fried catfish. He visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe more than once and praised him highly, but grumbled about religious fakes and faithful idiots. The quintessential Brooklynite, brash and sardonic, he was always complaining about something.
The Blogs: 3 critical policy questions Zohran Mamdani must answer
The recent New York City primary created shockwaves in Jewish communities across the five boroughs. The 33-year-old Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani ran a campaign that powerfully and effectively tapped into New Yorkers’ concerns about affordability, a critical issue for residents. Election night numbers were so favorable to Mamdani that Andrew Cuomo, who had been predicted to win the mayoral primary, conceded before the final ranked-choice votes were in: “Tonight is his night. He deserved it.
3 critical policy questions Zohran Mamdani must answer - Ruthie Hollander
The recent New York City primary created shockwaves in Jewish communities across the five boroughs. The 33-year-old Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani ran a campaign that powerfully and effectively tapped into New Yorkers’ concerns about affordability, a critical issue for residents. Election night numbers were so favorable to Mamdani that Andrew Cuomo, who had been predicted to win the mayoral primary, conceded before the final ranked-choice votes were in: “Tonight is his night. He deserved it.
The Blogs: The flag in our apartment matters more now
Our apartment faces a quiet Upper East Side street. It’s on the first floor of a walk-up, and pedestrians often make eye contact with us or peer curiously through our windows. Like many observant Jews, our home contains a variety of items that immediately identify us to those in the know: Hebrew books and siddurim, Shabbat candles, Jewish art, kiddush cups, and a havdalah set.
The Blogs: What your opinion on Israel might say about you
“There’s no way people are really pro-Iran, right?” my sister whatsapped me from her safe room in Giv’at Shmuel. She was right to be incredulous. Within hours of the initial attack on Iranian nuclear sites and regime officials, online forums were flooded by comments celebrating Iran’s retaliation against Israel and justifying Iran’s nuclear efforts as leveling the playing field.
The Blogs: Lessons from the 'Freedom Flotilla'
This week, a flotilla was intercepted by Israeli soldiers as it came within 100 miles of Gaza’s shores. The small vessel held about 1000 pounds of aid intended for Gaza’s residents. Onboard were a dozen pro-Palestinian activists from countries including France, Turkey, Spain, and, most notably, Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, internationally known for her climate activism. This week’s Parashat Be’ha’alotecha tells of another group of activists.
The Blogs: When Judaism is uncompromising, it hurts
At the beginning of each school year, we signed a handbook. In it were the guidelines we agreed to live by if we wanted to stay enrolled and out of trouble: No unsupervised internet. No movie theaters. Modest clothing — including tights — both in and out of school. And the cardinal rule: No talking to boys. I managed to get through most of my teenage years without ever having a normal one-on-one conversation with a boy.
The Blogs: Stop platforming 'Good Jews'. It’s a pernicious form of antisemitism
The Zionist movement uses every tool at their disposal to silence criticism, and dismissing righteous people as ‘antisemitic’ is one of their most powerful tools. There has been a decades-long effort to confuse the masses. These aren’t the words of a social media provocateur or a college protester. They were spoken by a man in a shtreimel and peyos — a Chasid, unmistakable in appearance. He was also wearing a keffiyeh with a red, green, and black fringe.
The Blogs: The Desert of Edmond Jabès
Poets and philosophers have always loved the desert. When Edmond Jabès lived in Cairo, he often traveled alone to the desert, but he limited each trip to three or four days at a time. “I could have stayed longer, but sometimes I couldn’t stand it anymore,” he reflected in an interview. “The desert is listening pushed to the extreme. And to which you can’t even respond with words. You’re obliged to submit.” Jabès was obsessed with the desert, both as metaphor and muse.
The Blogs: The 'Anti-Zionist' Cesspool You've Never Heard Of
Note: All bolded quotes are directly attributable or based on lines from the cult film Mean Girls. Given the subject of the article, I think there’s no further explanation needed. *** Gretchen, stop trying to make ‘Zionism’ happen. It’s not going to happen. r/Fauxmoi has 5.9 million members. They’re sassy, opinionated, and self-righteous. When they comment, it’s easy to picture the virtual hair-flip in the style of Regina George.
The Blogs: My Father’s Sabbatical Years
My family always loved sabbatical years. They meant that my father — who does research in pure mathematics — was more available to take us on trips and go on adventures. Without a teaching schedule or the need to travel abroad for research, he was more relaxed, more present. We kids loved it, and I imagine my mother did, too; in a sabbatical year, she shared parenting responsibilities more evenly.
The Blogs: Parashat Emor, as Debated from the Uber
During the 30-minute uber ride from Downtown Atlanta to Buckhead, my husband and I argued. To be clear, it was a machloket l’shem shamayim — it had to do with an enigmatic incident in Parashat Emor that has puzzled readers for centuries. And there we were, unable to agree on what the story was really about.
The Blogs: To Become Holy, Become 'Other'
If you were to write a magnum opus on Jewish ethics, you would find yourself parked within the text of Parashat Kedoshim for quite some time. 19th-century theologian August Klostermann titled this section “Das Heiligkeitsgesetz,” or “the Holiness Code,” arguing the text was distinct from other parts of the Torah and worth close study.
The Blogs: Has there ever been a war like this?
Centuries ago, Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote the still-bestselling The Art of War. In this brief treatise, he delineated five essentials for military victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
Buy Nothing Groups Make Me Nostalgic for the Orthodox Community Sharing Centers of My Youth – Kveller
I loved my local Buy Nothing group from the moment I discovered it, sometime early in 2020, when the world was cloistered and quarantined. There was something compelling about the slivers of other people’s lives it offered, the photos that captured items but also beige carpet or a cat in the background. And its mission is an aspirational one.
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