• Higher Education and Jewish Education: Knowledge i…

    It has become common for Jewish students attending American institutions of high education to feel bullied, threatened, intimidated or silenced.  What should be done?  What can be done? 
  • Holiness: Thoughts for Parashat Vayikra

    The Torah reminds us and challenges us to be the best person we can be. Although it is difficult to block out all the negative static in our world, the quest for holiness keeps us human, humane and Godly.
  • Esther: Peshat and Derash in Megillat Esther

    Megillat Esther is among the most difficult biblical books to study anew, precisely because it is so familiar. Many assumptions accompany us through our study of the Megillah, occasionally clouding our perceptions of what is…
  • Shabbat March 29-30: Rabbi Hayyim Angel Scholar-in…

    On Shabbat, March 29-30, Rabbi Hayyim Angel will serve as the scholar-in-residence at the Young Israel of Hillcrest, Queens. If you are in the area, you are welcome to come.

Welcome to the Institute for Jewish Ideas & Ideals

The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals offers a vision of Orthodox Judaism that is intellectually sound, spiritually compelling, and emotionally satisfying. Based on an unwavering commitment to the Torah tradition and to the Jewish people, it fosters an appreciation of legitimate diversity within Orthodoxy.

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It has become common for Jewish students attending American institutions of high education to feel bullied, threatened, intimidated or silenced.  What should be done?  What can be done? 
The Torah reminds us and challenges us to be the best person we can be. Although it is difficult to block out all the negative static in our world, the quest for holiness keeps us human, humane and Godly.
Megillat Esther is among the most difficult biblical books to study anew, precisely because it is so familiar. Many assumptions accompany us through our study of the Megillah, occasionally clouding our perceptions of what is in the text and what is not.
On Shabbat, March 29-30, Rabbi Hayyim Angel will serve as the scholar-in-residence at the Young Israel of Hillcrest, Queens. If you are in the area, you are welcome to come.
This article by Rabbi Marc D. Angel appeared in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, March 13, 2024.
The Diario: The Daring Escape of Two Sephardic Jews from Turkey to America During World War I, Albion Andalus Books, Boulder, 2023. Written in Ladino by Alfred Ascher, Translated and Introduced by Gloria J. Ascher