Magazine

Whether you decide to go formal and proper or playful and laid back, just remember that Pesach is all about transmitting a powerful legacy from one generation to the next.

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Although most of us are now focused on Pesach and rolling up our sleeves - both physically and mentally - we need to keep close to our hearts a wrenching message that was brought to the fore this particular Purim. For me and many other Jews, Purim was not "business as usual" in terms of having great fun, merrymaking and partying. Our joy was deeply tempered by the haunting images of the murdered Fogel family - a young mother, father, and three of their six children, including a three-month old infant girl - who were ruthlessly slaughtered as they slept, by Palestinian descendants of Amalek.

Last week I wrote that what we say to others, and the way we say it, might evoke emotions in our listeners that may or may not be what we intend.

Educational degrees in both teaching and administration abound. But when it comes to managing schools, few universities offer courses devoted to helping school principals and other administrators learn the management skills necessary to successfully run a school - specifically, a Jewish school.

“You have all been through a long and difficult journey,” belted Rafi to the group of twenty-five boys at the end-of-year ceremony for Menifa’s Lech Lecha program in Gilo. “I remember the falls and climbs you each experienced.”

I received a letter from a distraught mother and her daughter. After all the children were married, the mother took her elderly parent in to live with them.

I was deeply saddened by the petira of Mrs. Irene Klass, a"h, wife and daughter of Rabbi Sholom Klass, z"l and Mr. Raphael Schreiber, a"h, founders of The Jewish Press. Although our paths only crossed once - and just for a minute - that one very brief encounter had a lasting, positive impact on the quality of my life. The handful of words that Mrs. Klass, a complete stranger, said to me ignited a flicker of light on the gloomy road I was on, a light that was to grow stronger and brighter with the passing of time. Almost comically, this encounter took place over 25 years ago in a swimming pool at the Homowack Hotel in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

None of us would deliberately hurt our friends. We would not tell jokes about the blind to a blind person or to a relative of a blind person.

In this week's Dating Primer column, Rosie Einhorn and Sherry Zimmerman write about the destructive nature of frequent, often unjustified criticism directed towards children and some of the repercussions of what they feel is unintentional but nonetheless genuine verbal abuse.

For the last few weeks, I have been writing about the efforts of survivors and second- generation Jews from Piotrkow in going back to their hometown to preserve/restore the remnants of the town's Jewish history.

Most memoirs written by former Jewish citizens of Poland talk in detail of the Shoah, such as the book I wrote about last week, The Zoo Keeper's Wife.

Welcome to “You’re Asking Me?” where we answer any and all questions -- not necessarily in the hopes that we can make your issues go away by waving a newspaper at them, but more in the hopes that if we make enough jokes, you’ll forget what your problem was, unless you reread the beginning of the article, where we helpfully put your problems in bold face.

Welcome once again to “You’re Asking Me?” – the column that answers all kinds of questions, depending on how loosely you define the word “answer.” Whereas other so-called advice columns are interested in providing you with well-researched advice, my concern is more to get you to stop asking me questions, by whatever means necessary.

“Whether there was ever any doubt about the accuracy, the wisdom, the propriety of U.S. President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, I certainly think this lays all doubts to rest,” American Ambassador David Friedman proclaimed at the event.

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If you are old enough, you may remember how your job search was predicated on getting a head start on the Sunday editions of the New York Times and the New York Daily News and making a list of all the places you would call and all the resumes you would mail out on Monday morning.

Having already sent three girls to seminary in the Holy Land, you would think I would be an expert on travel gear and accessories...

You're not at a healthy weight, Shevi. We have to do something about this.

The name Radegast Station might not be familiar to most people.

Once upon a time we lived with limited expectations. We expected life to be hard and unfortunately it did not disappoint us.

Thank you for your letters. I received so many letters on this topic asking me what a person can do to help, if mentioning weight is counterproductive.

Leah Katz, a TeenZone camper at Oorah’s TheZone summer camp and an 11th grader at Midwood High School, read her winning essay about how TheZone changed her views on Judaism at the Jewish Heritage Awards Ceremony held at Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’s office in April. The purpose of the Jewish Heritage Essay Contest is to acquaint public school students with Jewish history and customs and to help foster a deeper understanding of Jewish culture. The contest is open to students of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. Leah’s essay is reproduced in full below.

As we get older, nostalgia takes over many areas of our life and we often yearn for things from the past.

You would have to be hiding under a rock to be unaware of the sad and drawn-out death of a severely brain damaged woman called Terri Schiavo, whose husband and legal guardian made the decision to have her life-sustaining feeding tube removed.

Dear Readers: The following short story is fictional. However, many of you will surely nod your heads in agreement as you recognize people you know - perhaps yourself - in the characters I have described. I hope in future articles, to touch on what I believe are the various psychological factors that contribute to the shidduch crisis.

Jews had always been permitted to settle in Zakroczym without restriction.

The family: Parents Avinadav and Hanna Kalef; son, Ortal; daughter, Kinneret and son, Ronen. All of three Kalef children married while the family lived in Gush Katif and are themselves today, parents.