Articles by Gabrielle Hiller

Avoiding Mixed Messages: Learning to Take Pride in Our Diversity

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
      When I decided to attend Stern College for Women, I was warned that I would be in a bubble for the entirety of my college experience. I had conversations with concerned friends and family members who feared that I would not learn to interact with the larger world community. And, ... Read more →

Editors’ Thoughts: “A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance”

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
[i]       On April 7, 1959, the Knesset of the State of Israel passed a law establishing the twenty-seventh of Nissan as the day on which to memorialize the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The concept of a memorial day is not new to the Jews. Our calendar is filled with days ... Read more →

Interview with Ruth Messinger

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
Note to readers: Ruth Messinger has been the president and CEO of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an organization that advocates for human rights and works to end poverty around the world, since 1998. Previously, she served for twelve years on the New York City Council and for eight years ... Read more →

Editors’ Thoughts: Incorporating the Divine into the Ordinary

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
Miracles and divine intervention: Somehow, just saying these words elicits in our minds images of wonder and feelings of awe. Many of us have different understandings of these two interconnected ideas. Some view miracles and divine intervention as virtually irrelevant to our current lives where ... Read more →

Editors’ Thoughts: The Living Torah

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
When the Jewish people arrive in Midbar Sin soon after yetsi’at Mitsrayim, they approach Moshe and Aharon and complain about their lack of food.[i] In response, Hashem famously tells Moshe that a special food, soon to be known as man, will rain down from the heavens every day except for ... Read more →

The Beauty of Two Worlds: The Metsuveh and the Eino Metsuveh

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
Scenario one: You arrive home, put your bags down, and walk into the kitchen. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice that the sink is full of dishes, but you move on to the refrigerator and take out something to eat. You settle down at the table for your meal. A few minutes [...]

Editors’ Thoughts: A Transformative Time for Jewish Education

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
The face of Jewish education is constantly changing in today’s world. The style of education that yeshivah day-school students of this generation receive is markedly different from the models experienced by our parents. Teaching methods have changed, and the role of the teacher has evolved. ... Read more →

Women’s Zimmun: It’s Just Not that Radical

By Gabrielle Hiller | Comment ()
[i] It is a classic picture: A family joined together for their Shabbat meal, enjoying delicious food, speaking divrei Torah, and singing zemirot (songs).  Finally, the meal concludes with zimmun (the invitation to bless) and birkat ha-mazon (blessing after the meal).  Many of you might have ... Read more →