Posted on: January 4th, 2010

Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI and Manhigut Yehudit recently conducted its latest Chizuk Mission to Israel. These missions are designed to cover as much of the contested land of Israel as possible in a jam-packed week of visits to all parts of the country. We visited the Binyamin area, the Shomron, the northern Shomron, the Galilee, the Negev, Hebron - and of course, Yerushalayim.

Posted on: November 11th, 2009

You've heard of podcasts. Now there are "Godcasts." A week before Rosh Hashanah, Jewish World Review founder Binyamin Jolkovsky launched JWisdom.com, featuring a daily audio shiur in 11 minutes or less. Lecturers from around the world, including Rabbis Jonathan Rietti, Nosson Scherman, and Abraham J. Twerski, deliver the short inspirational talks - or Godcasts. A week before Rosh Hashanah, Jewish World Review founder Binyamin Jolkovsky launched JWisdom.com, featuring a daily audio shiur in 11 minutes or less. Lecturers from around the world, including Rabbis Jonathan Rietti, Nosson Scherman, and Abraham J. Twerski, deliver the short inspirational talks - or Godcasts.

Posted on: October 21st, 2009

When one thinks of kapotes, the traditional long suit jackets worn by married Lubavitcher chassidim, one doesn't automatically think of the cutting edge of fashion. Yet Mendy Sacho, a 25-year-old Lubavitch tailor in Toronto, Canada, is pushing the garb into the spotlight.

Posted on: September 2nd, 2009

Why did then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally initiate the Disengagement, which caused and continues to cause so much grief to thousands of Israeli patriots? It resulted in the uprooting of men, women, children, farmers and businessmen, and the destruction of beautiful self-supporting communities - in the worst possible way.

Posted on: September 2nd, 2009

There is a very special place in Jerusalem many people have heard of - but how many really know the magnitude of its work? In fact, Aleh is often confused with another facility with a similar sounding name. But Aleh stands alone in its class. Unlike other places, Aleh accepts children who have no chance of rehabilitation, and all the children receive the same loving care.

Posted on: August 26th, 2009

Distant mothers. MMR vaccines. Genetic mutations. Contaminated drinking water. These are just a few of the many factors that scientists and doctors have attributed to the cause of autism throughout the last 50 years, since autism was first established as a separate diagnosis in the late 1960's. In recent years the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in American children has risen to one in every one 150. Yet, despite these attempts none have proved successful in isolating a definite cause. In fact, from diagnosis to treatments, autism research is rife with uncertainties and trial-and-error theories, many of which have thus far been disproved and fallen to the proverbial wayside.

Posted on: August 19th, 2009

Recently, Aish HaTorah inaugurated a beautiful and unique model of the Beis Hamikdash in its world headquarters overlooking the Temple Mount and the Western Wall plaza. The model will be on permanent display on the roof of the highly anticipated interactive museum, called the Exploratorium.

Posted on: August 5th, 2009

I confess: I live in Boro Park and I own a television. I don't readily volunteer this information to my religious compatriots, but if anyone would ever ask, I wouldn't lie about it, either. To me, owning a television and lying about it are on two altogether different levels, commandments-wise. But thankfully, the question has never arisen.

Posted on: July 29th, 2009

Tisha B'Av is approaching, and with it, the awe-inspiring and painful memories I felt in when I visited Gush Katif, on a mission with Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

Posted on: July 22nd, 2009

In the wake of a recent upsurge in violence that swept across Iran following last month's presidential elections, a group of Jews and their descendents from the city of Mashad in Iran's northeast gathered in Jerusalem for the first ever meeting of the Global Mashadi Jewish Federation.

Posted on: July 15th, 2009

Yes, it is your father's synagogue, and it had just observed its 70th anniversary.

Posted on: July 1st, 2009

As a congregational rabbi, I often see people in hospitals and other health care facilities. While each building may look different, the actual differences are rather minute. It was my privilege recently to visit a hospital that is a definite exception to that rule.

Posted on: June 17th, 2009

An all-day conference on body image and eating disorders in the Jewish community took place on Sunday, June 7, in Manhattan. Co-sponsored by the Renfrew Center Foundation and the Orthodox Union's Department of Community Services, the conference boasted a stellar cast of speakers and experts, who spoke urgently of the need to address the growing epidemic of Orthodox Jewish men and women with eating disorders.

Posted on: June 17th, 2009

An all-day conference on body image and eating disorders in the Jewish community took place on Sunday, June 7, in Manhattan. Co-sponsored by the Renfrew Center Foundation and the Orthodox Union's Department of Community Services, the conference boasted a stellar cast of speakers and experts, who spoke urgently of the need to address the growing epidemic of Orthodox Jewish men and women with eating disorders.

Posted on: June 1st, 2009

Almost every American Orthodox Jew who owns a computer either checks or knows about OnlySimchas.com. If Naftali Mark, a young Flatbush financial representative, has his druthers, the same will one day be true about www.Refuahs.org.

Posted on: May 20th, 2009

The 10th Annual Rebbetzin's Conference sponsored by the Task Force on Families and Children at Risk, which took place last week, was one of the best ever. Rebbetzins come from far and wide to participate in this yearly program and leave with newfound strength.

Posted on: May 13th, 2009

Remembering Rebbetzin Lillian Chomsky On Her First Yahrzeit

Posted on: May 13th, 2009

WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO---It's not everyday, or every year, or every decade, or even every century, that a beautifully-designed, 180-seat, air-conditioned synagogue rises in the Caribbean, let alone a modern Orthodox one.

Posted on: May 6th, 2009

It isn't often a person from West Bloomfield, Mich., shares a PassoverSeder in Thailand with someone from Sydney, Australia, but that's exactly what I did this year.

Posted on: May 6th, 2009

While in Paris last March celebrating his wedding anniversary, Jacques Baghdadi set in motion another kind of shidduch. Like many in the community, frustrated with the high cost of yeshivas in Brooklyn, he knocked on the door of Alliance Israelite Universelle, an organization with 150 years of experience providing high-quality, affordable Jewish education worldwide.