Is protesting the East Ramapo School Board a Jewish cause? Andrew Mandel jokes that he grew up attending the “Cadillac schools” of the East Ramapo Central School District. By that, he means Fleetwood and El Dorado elementary schools — two institutions that either by happenstance or design bear the names signature vehicles produced by […]
This past Shabbat a friend of mine read the final aliyah of the Torah portion. The rabbi congratulated her for celebrating the anniversary of her bat mitzvah, which took place as part of a women’s adult education class 10 years earlier. When she returned to her seat, I shook her hand and wished her yasher […]
I recently spoke about JWB Jewish Chaplains Council and the work that it does as a program of JCC Association, where I work, at New City Jewish Center. I’ve adapted the text from the Shabbat d’var, which took place on Saturday, May 23, 2015, two days before yizkor for Shavuot coincided with our Memorial Day. […]
“Never again,” is the resounding legacy of the Shoah. Never again will Jews allow themselves to be victims to such catastrophic destruction. Never again is why we have the state of Israel. And while Zionism as a movement predated the Holocaust by many decades, and Jews had been making their way to the holy land […]
The cobblestones of Toledo are smooth. Over centuries, feet and weather have worn away the jagged edges, vestiges of the picks that hewed the rock from the quarry. They are difficult to negotiate, slippery and rounded, lining the narrow roads and alleys that wind through this Spanish city, built high on a hill, bordered by […]
The Munch 11 may finally get what’s due to them — 44 years after being murdered at the 1972 Olympics. Kidnapped by Palestinians terrorists, then killed during a botched rescue mission, the 11 Israelis to this day remain unmemorialized by the organization that oversees the very games in which they came to participate. But that […]
Recently my husband I visited our daughter, Lily, in Israel, where she is studying and volunteering in Tel Aviv. Before we left New York, though, we had decided we would spend our one Shabbat in Israel in Jerusalem, but that meant figuring out what to do for Friday night dinner. The rabbinate doesn’t allow kosher […]
My husband and I walked to shul on Shabbat in the 10-degree chill. I’m not sure I’ve ever walked to shul in such cold weather, and doubt I would have gone had I not agreed to leyn Torah. I usually sing the Shirat haYam, the Song of the Sea, every year when we arrive at […]
In 1999, the Brooklyn Museum scheduled the art exhibit “Sensations,” part of British art collector Charles Saatchi’s collection featuring young British artists intent on creating very challenging, shocking artwork. Margaret O’Brien Steinfels of the New York Times wrote at the time that the show included, “dead pigs and sharks preserved in formaldehyde, the bust of […]
This recipe is very adaptable to changes. You can alter the base you spread on the salmon to accommodate whatever flavors strike your fancy. Ingredients: 2 lbs of salmon fillets 2 Tbsp prepared Dijon mustard 2 Tbsp olive oil, or mix canola oil and sesame oil 1/4-1/2 c of sesame seeds, either plain or a mix of […]
