יום שני, 26 אוקטובר 2026Monday, October 26, 2026
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יום שני, ט״ו חשוון תשפ״זMonday, October 26, 2026
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Features

Meeting Alexander Imich, 111-Years Old

By Beth Sarafraz

Imich was born in 1903 in Poland, where he later earned his Ph.D. in 1927, despite the best efforts of anti-Semitic professors to sabotage his thesis

Features

Navigating The Journey: Bein Odam L’Chaveiro

By Boruch Wahrhaftig

Have you seen drivers mindlessly block traffic to load or unload passengers and cargo while a huge parking space is only a few feet away?

Features On The Jewish World

Archive Comes To Life At New Holocaust Education Center

By Shoshana Batya Greenwald

People often ask me why do we need another Holocaust center? The story of Isaac Avigdor is the answer.

Features On The Jewish World

A Magnificent Weekend With The Chabad Shluchos

By Naomi Klass Mauer

Almost every year I am invited to attend the grand banquet of the International Shluchos Convention, the climax of a four-day weekend that attracts some 2,500 Chabad shluchos from all over the world – from Argentina to Australia, from Thailand to Kazakhstan, and from every state in the U.S. It takes place the weekend of Chaf Bet Shevat, the yahrzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l.

Features

You Don’t Like It?

By Mordechai Schmutter

Dear Mordechai, Someone gave me a gift that I don’t like. But I don’t want to hurt his feelings. What should I do? You Shouldn’t Have

Features On The Jewish World

Victims of Terror: the Hero Who Can’t Admit It

By Rhona Lewis

Who are the heroes who rush into a hell like this and pull out the wounded and the dead?

Features On The Jewish World

The History Of The Chevra Kadisha

By Barry Katz

Today, there are about 40 chevrei kadisha in New York State alone, and hundreds throughout the country.

Features On The Jewish World

Chesed Shel Emet

By dvora

The greatest concern is for the sensitive care, modesty and dignity of the deceased throughout the process. There is even a point during the tahara when crew members verbally, or internally, apologize to the deceased in case there was any inadvertent lapse of dignity.

Features On The Jewish World

Light And Shadows: The Story Of Iranian Jews

By Rebecca Mordechai

Jews from this Persian city were not only cruelly attacked by mobs, but also forced to convert to Islam.

Features / NY

New York’s Mayors, Israel’s Defenders

By Daniel Treiman

New York City mayors have been outspoken defenders of Israel since its establishment – and of the Zionist cause even before that.

Features On The Jewish World

To Dream

By Esther Deutsch

It was a few weeks before Purim and I had just come home from a fabulous day in Ateres Naava seminary. I was inspired. I felt empowered and I wanted to act. I wanted to change the world!

Features On The Jewish World

Who We Are

By Chany G. Rosengarten

But there's more to us New Squarians. And it isn’t all about blow torches, although we use those too, to light the torches used to escort a chosson to his wedding, to kasher catering kitchens, and to weld iron, sometimes as window bars for our condominium windows, three flights up.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

Mitzpeh Bikat HaYarden

By Vardah Littman and Rimonah Traub

This mitzpeh, or outlook, is a memorial to soldiers who fell during the “Mirdafim” (Pursuits) that took place in the area for about three years after the Six-Day War.

Features On The Jewish World

Kfar Darom: Pioneers – Then And Now

By Achinoam Kadmon

After the Six-Day War, Kfar Darom was resettled as a Nachal outpost of Bnei Akiva, and later, in 1990, a civilian settlement was established and the ancient, original name attributed to this place during the period of the Mishna, Kfar Darom, was adopted.

Features On The Jewish World

The Titanic – a Metaphor for Israel Today

By Helen Freedman

What we saw was Arab arrogance, audacity, and terror that was completely out of control.

Features On The Jewish World

His Hour Upon The Stage: Lipa Takes On Broadway

By Rabbi Shmuel Skaist

The story line may have been a bit confusing, but the message seemed pretty clear; in life you need both the psychologist and the Rebbe.

Op-Eds / Features On The Jewish World

A Weekend with Nefesh

By Naomi Klass Mauer

Shabbos at a Nefesh weekend is an experience all on its own.

Features

Friday Nights At Home

By S.L. Weinstock

Shabbos means different things for us than it does for the average Jewish home. Soon after my divorce six years ago, I made a valiant effort at conducting a Shabbos meal for my two toddlers, aged three and a half and two and a half. With emotional resources severely depleted and time and energy limited, the store-bought roasted chicken and greasy soup with heavy matzah balls did little to enhance the atmosphere, and the gnawing loneliness threatened to engulf me. Is it any wonder I gave up?

Features On The Jewish World

The Jews Of The U.S. (Conclusion)

By Ezra James Nollet

The Joint Distribution Committee cared for the refugees, directed the care of children, renewed educational facilities, undertook the rebuilding of destroyed houses, etc. Through the year 1930 the Joint Committee distributed over $80 million to the different branches of its relief work, and even distributed aid via affiliated charities to Jewish agricultural settlements in the USSR.

Features

My Jewish Rx For Good Health

By Harvey Rachlin

When you laugh, you are promoting good health in your mind and body. And that is no joke

Features On The Jewish World

Brooklyn’s David Siller Wins Trophy In Beit Shemesh Race

By Jewish Press Staff

Brooklyn resident David Siller, currently studying in Israel at Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah in Beit Shemesh, was awarded a trophy for finishing 3rd in his age group (14-18) in a 5-kilometer race for the benefit of the Benjamin Children’s Library of Beit Shemesh.

Features On The Jewish World

Giant Dreidel Featured At Thanksgiving Parade

By Naomi Klass Mauer

This year’s parade, the 87th annual extravaganza of marching bands, floats, and giant balloons, featured something really unique and different: a balloon/float of a large blue dreidel.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

The Einot Tzukim Nature Reserve: Oasis In The Desert.

By Vardah Littmann

Only half an hour’s drive from Jerusalem, the majestically beautiful Einot Tzukim Nature Reserve is a lush, green oasis surrounded by miles of flat arid, desert.

Features

The Meeting Of Silicon Alley And Silicon Wadi

By dvora

It was a much anticipated evening as the winners of the U.S. Israel Business Council (USI) competition for “most promising Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs with the next big idea,” were to be announced. The enthusiasm was overwhelming as there were more than 160 applicants to the “Israel to NY” competition, and despite some very impressive ideas, only 15 Israeli tech-startups were chosen as finalists.

Features On The Jewish World

Shuls And Mushrooms

By Rhona Lewis

Like mushrooms, shuls of all shapes and sizes are popping up throughout Israel in places where the residents vowed no sign of traditional Judaism would ever find a place. However, unlike mushrooms, which appear overnight with little effort, these shuls are being built only after incredible input by a special organization and inspired individuals.

Features On The Jewish World / Haredim & Hassidim / NY / News Briefs / Judaism

For 5,200 Rabbis and Guests, a Night of Inspiration

By Karen Schwartz

It was the culmination of four days of learning, togetherness and inspiration that the Lubavitcher Rebbe first encouraged his shluchim to convene back in 1983.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

The Small Wall

By Vardah Littmann

The Kotel Hakatan is the “little sister” of the well-known Western Wall, and is reminiscent of the photos and drawings of the way the Kotel looked before 1948. It is located 200 yards further north of the Kotel, and is on the same level as Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount). Since its plaza is much narrower, and the majority of the wall is underground (thereby concealing much of its height), the Small Wall is less impressive than the Western Wall.

Features On The Jewish World

Halachipedia: Where Halacha Meets The World Of Wiki

By Shira Vickar-Fox

Sukkot was cold in Ithaca, N.Y. Josh Polevoy and friends wondered if they needed to return after dinner to the sukkah, and the frigid outdoors, to eat the few remaining pieces of deli roll. With a quick search on the web browser of his iPhone, Josh, a senior at Cornell University, found his answer.

Features

Red Cross Visits Magen David Adom

By Elliot Resnick

There’s nothing like sharing knowledge. Last month a delegation of New York Red Cross leaders – including American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern – visited their colleagues at Magen David Adom in Israel to compare notes on how they respond to natural disasters and terrorism.

Features On The Jewish World

Sorting Through Old Things: Reflections On September 11th

By Erica Lyons

I left my mother a message saying goodbye and pleading with her to make sure my son grew up knowing how much I loved him.

Features

Phyllis Chesler Unveils Candid Memoir At 92nd Street Y

By Fern Sidman

“This is the story of a young and naive Jewish American woman who meant to rebel against tradition but who found herself trapped in the past, stuck in the Middle Ages, without a passport back,” declared Dr. Phyllis Chesler.

Features On The Jewish World

New Beginnings: Netzer Hazani

By Shifra Shomron

On a fresh August morning, I toured the newly re-built Netzer Hazani. This former Gush Katif community has successfully re-established itself near Yesodot, 8 years after Ariel Sharon's 2005 Disengagement Plan. It was truly amazing to once again see road signs bearing the names of Gush Katif communities! Seeing the green road sign with the white emblazoned letters of Netzer Hazani on it made something inside me first shudder and then smile.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of The U.S. (Part Four)

By Ezra James Nollet

The Federation of Jewish Labor by the end of the 1920s consisted of some 125,000 members, of whom 60 percent were employed in the confections industry. After 1929 there was a further rise in the level of Jewish participation in workers’ unions. There were 134,020 Jewish members of the fifty largest trade unions, 34.1 percent of the total number of organized workers, which roughly reflected the level of the Jews in the population of greater New York. In the remaining centers of the garment industry, in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Rochester, almost all the owners were Jews and the workers they employed were mainly Jewish.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

The Stones, Fauna And Flora Of The Kotel

By Vardah Littmann

When we come to the Kotel we may be so engrossed in our tefillos that we don’t notice the numerous birds flying close by and the plants growing out of her stones. But the Kotel—spiritual home to millions — is built of stones that serve as the physical home for various animals and plants.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of The U.S. (Part Three)

By Ezra James Nollet

The outward orderliness of the new circumstances of life was not without inner quakings of a spiritual crisis. Mixed marriages were extremely frequent in the southern and western states, where Jews were sprinkled in among the Christian populations. They came to about a third of the marriages Jews entered. But after 1881 the picture changed, with the flood of Jewish immigrants into New York. From 1908-1912, only 1.17 percent of marriages involving Jews were mixed.

Features On The Jewish World

Upholding The Art Of Chazzanut At YU’s Belz School Of Jewish Music

By Perel Skier

Once a week for the past seven years, New York State Supreme Court Justice Martin Schulman has made the trip from his courthouse chambers in Jamaica, Queens to Yeshiva University’s Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music on YU’s Washington Heights Wilf Campus.

Features

I Will Hold Your Empty Hand

By Rayzel Reich

We had just moved to Boro Park, fresh from the DP camps. The community was new and small, but we were settling in nicely. I knew how fortunate I was to have almost my whole family survive; most had so much less. Our family was a draw for many who needed that familiar feeling of home. One Shabbos afternoon I answered the door to find one such friend and a couple I did not recognize.

Features

Jewish Baby With Rare Disease Needs Bone Marrow Transplant

By dvora

Amanda and Akiva Zablocki, Jewish parents on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, are spending the month of Elul on the phone battling insurance companies. Their one-year old son, Idan (“era” in Hebrew), will soon be undergoing a bone marrow transplant for Hyper IgM, a rare genetic immune deficiency disorder that affects only two in a million people. The family’s Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot will take place at the Seattle Children’s Hospital as they prepare Idan for the surgery.

Features

Are Cover Letters Dead?

By Ron Ansel

Cover letters have long been associated with resumes and the job application process. In a time and a place when people were actually mailing resumes, the cover letter was a vital component that allowed the applicant to introduce himself and spell out why he was applying for a particular job.

Features On The Jewish World

Rescue And Renewal – Visiting The Illinois Holocaust Museum

By Susan Schwartz

By its very definition, a museum is a building that keeps and displays art, artifacts, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value. Most of us probably remember school field trips to our local history museums where we ogled at glass-enclosed displays of times long gone. They were frequently dark and musty places, and often the connection between what we were viewing and our lives was somewhat tangential.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of The U.S. (Part Two)

By Ezra James Nollet

The (European) press began to busy itself with the problems of emigration. The Austrian Central Body of Jews, which arose in 1848, dedicated itself to this situation. In May of 1848 a Committee for the Promotion of Emigration was started.

Features

Advocating For Children Through Food

By Shoshana Batya Greenwald

As professions go, an international children’s rights advocate is probably not listed anywhere as a low stress job. Fighting on behalf of children in places as far off as Sudan, Yvette Garfield took their plight to heart and came up with – a cookbook. Handstand Kids, Garfield’s company, was established in 2007 to connect children in a global community. In her words, “I had done a lot of traveling and wanted to introduce kids to the world and food seemed the best way to do it.”

Features On The Jewish World

“I’m Deaf. I’m Blind. And I’m Jewish!”: Shabbat Shines for a Deafblind Boy

By Bayla Sheva Brenner

With canes in their hands and anticipation on their faces, the participants made their way towards the Maryland retreat main lobby. They traveled from across the country to experience Shabbat with Jews just like themselves – who could neither see the light of the Shabbat candles nor hear the words of Kiddush.

Features On The Jewish World

Donate A Kidney To Save YOUR Life

By Ita Yankovich

The Jewish Press recently sat down with Chaya Lipschutz, a Brooklyn woman who saved the life of a stranger.

Features On The Jewish World

The Stones Of The Western Wall

By Jewish Press Staff

The image of the Western Wall, whether seen through photography or up close and in person, is fairly familiar throughout the world. When examined closely, however, its stones reveal far more history than first meets the eye.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of The U.S.

By Ezra James Nollet

On August 22 1654, the Sephardic Jew Jacob Bar-Simson landed in New Amsterdam. It appears he came from Holland. In the beginning of September of the same year, twenty-three Jews set sail for New Amsterdam, refugees from Pernambuco [Translator’s Note: Dutch South America). The ship Saint Charles, which functioned as the Jewish equivalent of the Mayflower for the first Jewish immigration to North America, brought them to the city today known as New York.

Features

Does Your Professional Persona Work For You?

By Ron Ansel

So a student walks into a job interview with a mid-size accounting firm in Manhattan. His uncle arranged the interview and the student had not visited with Career Services. Let’s look at his professional persona - the image he projects to those in the world of work. Our young man is dressed in a suit with a white shirt and tie, black shoes and is carrying a leather portfolio with his resume tucked inside. Let’s zoom in a little more closely at the image he projects to the interviewer.

Features On The Jewish World

A Mitzvah Package

By Helen Fuchs

Sometimes a mitzvah is just a part of life. We do it by rote and don’t give it a second thought. Sometimes a mitzvah is so hard to perform we have to make a conscious effort to do it right – or even perform it at all. Recently, one particular mitzvah has actually become an obsession for me; it has taken over much of my thoughts, most of my time and a significant portion of our home office.

Features On The Jewish World

A Dance To Remember

By A. Kodish

Yet all are part of one neshamah, planted in rich, verdant soil, determined to grow. May our garden continue to produce a glorious assortment of flowers and trees, each attached firmly to its roots. Our diverse southern vegetation flourishes and grows into different trees, flowers, and fruits, and a rainbow of glorious shades and hues appears. Yet each shoot is rooted in the same soil, stretching its branches and blossoms heavenward in an endless pursuit of growth and connection to the One above.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

The Suspension Bridge Over Nachel HaBesor

By Vardah Littmann

Although there are more direct and faster routes to Beer Sheva and Eilat and all the sites and towns in-between, the Basor River is one of the beauties of the Negev that defiantly justifies a diversion.

Features On The Jewish World

A Unique Sefer Torah

By Rhona Lewis

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l, who passed away on 28 Tammuz, (July18) this year at age 102, spent all of his days and most of his nights learning Torah. He was the paramount leader of our generation, and inspired tremendous awe and reverence in everyone who knew him. Now, every woman has the stunning opportunity to do something in his memory. A Sefer Torah is being written in his memory and women around the world have the chance to dedicate a letter.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

Reflections On Jewish Budapest

By Erica Lyons

In the quaint and picturesque Hungarian town of Szentendre (Saint Andrew), just outside of Budapest, our group of five new friends who had gathered from throughout the Jewish world bask in the sunlight, seemingly frozen in time. We weave along the cobblestone streets browsing in and out of charming little shops offering handmade crafts, delicate latticework, whimsical wooden toys and intricately painted porcelain. We sit outside and feast on pastries that look more like art than edibles and ice coffee is reminiscent of ice cream floats.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of Greece

By Ezra James Nollet

Before the beginning of the Common Era, Jews were known to have lived in Sparta, Sikyon, Delphi, Athens, Patras, Mantineja, Laconia, Corinth, Thessalalonika, Philippi, and Beroa. Due to baptism forced on Jews by some Byzantine emperors, a number of Jews emigrated o southern Italy. Otherwise, there was a line of Jewish communities in the 12th century. By itself Thebes housed 2,000 families, Salonika 500 families, and middle-sized settlements arose in Halmyros, Corinth, Drama, Krisa, Naupactos, Ravnica, Arta, and Lamia.

Features

The Play: “I’ve Lost My Job”

By Ron Ansel

Scene One: After noticing that you can’t log into your computer, your pulse quickens as you are called into your supervisor’s office. S/he has some bad news. You are being laid off. You have 15 minutes to clean out your desk and surrender your cell phone before security escorts you out of the building. Job termination, especially in the corporate world, can be heartless.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of Holland (Conclusion)

By Ezra James Nollet

Under the influence of the Age of Enlightenment, the cultural union “Toalet” was formed, which published a number of works of by Hebraic scientists and works of fiction. In recent times, the Jewish-scientific movement has found its stride with the “Union of Jewish Science,” which was founded by S. Seeligmann, a historian and a bibliophile. In its university library, Amsterdam possesses a most valuable Jewish section, the so-called “Rosenthaliana,” which was named after the philanthropist Leiser Rosenthal, who was the father of the Baron von Rosenthal.

Features

Informational Interviewing – Your New ‘Best Friend’

By Ron Ansel

One of the best aspects of the frum community is our dedication to chesed. From a myriad of organizations to shul committees to neighbors doing whatever they can do to help those in need, chesed is one of the main pillars of our community.

Features

‘He Had A Vision And Was Always Right’: The Life Of A Ukrainian Jewish Leader

By dvora

Single-minded and dutifully on a mission, Leah Shmist is sitting at her mother’s kitchen table in Ashdod, sorting through a box of papers. Her father, Dr. Aharon Arkady Shmist, was among the first Jewish lay leaders in Ukraine who began to rebuild the Jewish community as soon as Mikhail Gorbachev initiated Perestroika and Glasnost in the mid 1980’s – allowing for greater freedom to religious groups. Much has been written about Shmist, documenting his work as a Jewish lay leader, and now his daughter Leah says she wants to complete the last project he was in the middle of before his untimely death.

Features / Travel

A Show Without a Camera

By Shoshana Batya Greenwald

On my third visit to the annual New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show, I did not take any pictures.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

Machon Ayalon – Pre-State Clandestine Bullet Factory

By Vardah Littmann

About four years ago a group of orthodox senior citizens from Bnei Brak arrived to tour the Ayalon Institute. One woman seemed to be exceptionally moved and cried a lot. Nearly two week later, she sent a letter to the Institute explaining why. She wrote that she was a Holocaust survivor and between 1943 and 1945 she had been a forced laborer making bullets to help the Nazi cause – bullets that were used many times against Jews. After the war, she had concentrated on raising a frum generation, suppressing all the terror of those horrendous years in order to do so.

Features / Daily Living

Unsung Heroes: A Behind The Scenes Look At The Jewish Music Business

By Sandy Eller

I know this is supposed to be a consumer column, but let's face it. We have all just spent the last few weeks preparing, cleaning and shopping until our credit cards begged for mercy and our family members have started wondering if Windex is our new signature scent. The last thing anyone wants to be thinking about right now is buying more stuff, making home improvements or otherwise planning ahead.

Features On The Jewish World

The Hazan Family: Formerly Of Neve Dekalim; Now Of Nitzan

By Jewish Press Staff

“My name is Itzhak Hazan. I was raised in a traditional Jewish family in France. I initially came to Israel in 1977 as a lone backpacker and felt an immediate attachment to the people and country. I realized that there was a difference between the French culture in which I was raised and Jewish culture.

Features On The Jewish World

Reading Emma Lazarus In Hong Kong

By Erica Lyons

It started as my daughter’s third grade assignment: choose a person to write about, preferably an American, preferably a Jew. We were going to do just that. I intended to help my daughter choose the topic and then to back away yet, Emma Lazarus ended up drawing me in.

Features

The Jews Of Iran & Afghanistan

By Ezra James Nollet

The present kingdom of Persia, which recently officially took the name “Iran,” encompasses a region of over 1,640,000 square kilometers with about 15 million inhabitants. The most important cities are the capital Tehran as well Tabris, Mesched, and Isfahan (the former capital).

Features

A Special Winery’s Special People

By Deborah Fineblum Schabb

JERUSALEM – Since he was a kid growing up in the town of Kiryat Tivan, Roy Itzhaki would regularly see them in the street, on their way to work, in coffee houses, as free as anyone else in the village to live their lives.

Features / Travel

Chol HaMoed Walking Tour

By Vardah Littmann

We will start our tour at Agripas No. 12, exactly where the first round stone pot-plant of pansies stands, on the same side of Binyan Klal, but walking towards King George Street and opposite the traffic circle. Entering HaRav Chaim Elboher Alley, we find ourselves in Even Yisrael.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

Akko: Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow

By Shalom Pollack

Always seeking to increase our knowledge of Israel's tourist sites, from time to time, us tour guides take refresher tours.

Features On The Jewish World / Travel

The Fascinating Hula Valley

By Vardah Littmann

The crane is the king of the Hula Valley with welcoming squawks and shrieks of sheer delight from the thousands on the ground and the many hundreds in the skies above. They are surely calling out “Shalom aleichem, my friends, alechem shalom, so glad you arrived,” for it is known that cranes inform each other of favorable domiciles.

Features On The Jewish World

Prayer and a Smile

By Karen Greenberg

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the home of Little League Baseball, is also the home of the Ohev Shalom Congregation and Rabbi Shaul and Michal Rappeport.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of Iran & Afghanistan

By Ezra James Nollet

The present kingdom of Persia, which recently officially took the name “Iran,” encompasses a region of over 1,640,000 square kilometers with about 15 million inhabitants. The most important cities are the capital Tehran as well Tabris, Mesched, and Isfahan (the former capital).

Features On The Jewish World / Kosher Food News

One Blessing Leads To Many More: G-d's Hand Can Even Be Found In Batches Of Cookies

By Toby Klein Greenwald

In 2001, David Ehrlich, an Israeli promotional filmmaker originally from New York, was down on his luck. He and his wife, Gail, a pre-school teacher, had recently moved their family from Jerusalem to Efrat, but the Second Intifada and a dip in the finances of non-profits had thrown a wrench into his business.

Features

‘Accidental’ Mitzvahs

By Molly Resnick

Two weeks ago I found myself at the International Conference of Chabad Shluchos in Crown Heights running a program together with my friend Rivka Kotlarsky for 120 Guests of Shluchos – many of them not yet especially observant.

Features On The Jewish World

After Long Feud, Shul Evicted From 16th St.

By Sandy Eller

What may be the final chapter in a long standing debate between a real estate developer and a Manhattan synagogue has been written, as a New York State appellate court judge ruled in favor of developer Jack Braha, owner of the building, and denied the Sixteenth Street Synagogue's interim stay of eviction, enabling Braha to oust the synagogue from its home of 67 years.

Features On The Jewish World

Rivka Shech – Formerly Of Moshav Gadid; Now Of Be’er Ganim

By Jewish Press Staff

The family: My name is Rivka (Teitlebaum) Shech. I have 3 grown children and I’m divorced. Background: My parents, my sister and I came to Israel from Hungary in 1950. We entered at Haifa Port and were taken to the Bat Galim immigrant transit camp. I was 1½ years old at the time and my sister was 4.

Features

Watch: Behind the Scenes and Underwater – a Jewish Video Hit

By Sandy Eller

It’s not every day that a chassidic singer, a guitarist and a drummer find themselves submerged in six feet of water.

Features

Do You Need A Will?

By Raymond Zeitoune and Isaac Yedid

A will is a legal document that provides specific instructions as to how a person's assets should be distributed upon his or her death. This article will touch on a few reasons why it is important for everyone, young or old, wealthy or not, to write a will.

Features / News Briefs

Rabbi Shlomo Brevda, Influential Torah Scholar, Passes Away

By Rabbi Raphael Fuchs

Inspirational Torah leader Rabbi Shlomo Brevda, zt”l, passed away last Tuesday at the age of 81. Rabbi Brevda authored numerous books and traveled to many parts of the world delivering mussar and words of encouragement to people of all ages. He was well known for his research of the Vilna Gaon, publishing many of his writings.

Features

To My Father On His 13th Yahrzeit

By Naomi Klass Mauer

So much has happened in the past few months and now the month of Shevat is suddenly upon us. And in a few days (Shevat 10) it will be your 13th yahrzeit.

Features

Orphans No More

By dvora

Having said several kapitlach of Tehillim, I decided it was time to check out my surroundings. Here I was sitting in a posh heimishe dental office in Williamsburg, serenaded by soft music, and surrounded by proper reading material. Thanking Hashem one more time that it was my friend in the dental chair and not myself (such a loyal friend that I am), I decided to indulge in some reading. The first periodical that I picked up had an article that caught my eye and heart. It was entitled Orphans No More. I could not put it down!

Features On The Jewish World

Will It Be A Missionary Center Or A Kiruv Center?

By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer

Chosen People Ministries, a Hebrew Christian missionary group, has spent $2.1 million to acquire a building and nearly $1 million more on renovations to construct an 11,000 square-foot missionary center in the heart of Flatbush. It will house a “synagogue,” sefer Torah, classrooms, and a dining hall – all with the intention of attracting the general Orthodox community and particularly unaffiliated local Jews and adults at risk from frum homes who have abandoned Yiddishkeit or are on the fringe.

Features

Aaron Klein Radio #1 In New York

By Jewish Press Staff

"Aaron Klein Investigative Radio," hosted by Jewish Press columnist Aaron Klein and broadcast on New York's WABC, achieved a milestone in the latest rankings, becoming number 1 on the AM dial in New York City.

Features On The Jewish World

The Virag Family Formerly Of Rafiah Yam; Now Of Nitzan

By Jewish Press Staff

The family: Yossi (38), Yamit (33) and daughters Tohar (4.5), Romi (2) and a new baby girl. Background: Yamit is the daughter of Ezra and Malka Mordechai, the first couple in Gush Katif. Ezra arrived in Gush Katif as a bachelor in 1974 and was one of three community founders. Yamit was raised in Netzer Hazani, the first established Gush Katif community.

Features

Jew In The City All Stars Party Lights Up With Chanukah Inspiration

By Atara Arbesfeld and Rivka Mordechai

Last Thursday night, December 12, the blogger Allison Josephs, who goes by the nom de Internet Jew in the City, hosted a Chanukah bash at Kehillath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side. Since the purpose of Josephs’s blogs and videos – and entire online presence – is to highlight and present the very best of Orthodoxy, this evening too was not merely a Chanukah bash, but a celebration of the launch of Joseph’s latest video “Orthodox Jewish All Stars.”

Features On The Jewish World

Alone On Ward C

By Erica Lyons

I met Mr. E at a poetry reading. Hong Kong’s literary scene is small and two Americans reading in one evening was an unusual event. We became Facebook friends, generally “liking” the same local literary events and book launches.

Features

Yeshiva University’s Azrieli School Going Global

By Amy A. Dubitsky

A Jewish educator anywhere in the world can now seek the accumulated knowledge available at the The Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. With the introduction this spring of a degree that can be completed online, geography is no longer a bar to attendance in an Azrieli Master’s program.

Features On The Jewish World

The Hezi Family – Formerly Of Moshav Gadid; Now Of Ein Tzurim Caravilla Site

By Jewish Press Staff

The family: Carol & Shmuel Hezi and their six children, Asnat, Eitan, Amichai, Vardit, Harel and Maital

Features

In Memory Of My Abba, Dr. Ivan Mauer

By Michal Mauer Silverstein

Recently I went to a shiur on Yitzchak Avinu and found that it applied in many ways to my own father whose name was Yitzchak.

Features On The Jewish World

Chinese Lanterns In The Sukkah

By Erica Lyons

A Hong Kong symphony of sounds fills the air as local laborers shout across the shul courtyard in Cantonese while tossing bamboo in a pile for the sukkah: Filipino maids chatter in Tagalog hovering over the children in their charge, the radio of the Nepalese gurkhas, the Synagogue security, crackles and jackhammers provide the background music. The thick air and humidity within the walls of the partially constructed bamboo sukkah sharply contrasts with the crisp fall air of Sukkot in the northeastern corridor of the United States, where the sukkahs of my childhood were laden with dried fruit and autumn color. Dozens of colorful miniature Chinese paper lanterns dangle from the sukkah and here replace the burnt orange and golden gourds of autumn.

Features On The Jewish World

The DeYoung Family: Formerly of K’far Darom; Now of Elon Moreh

By Jewish Press Staff

The family: Uri & Hadassa DeYoung and 5 children: Avigayil (16), Noa (14), Beruria (10), Tsuriel (8) and Devora (2). Background: My husband and I are both from New Jersey. We met and married in Israel. My husband always lived along the New Jersey shore and when he discovered that he didn't have to give up the beach in order to live in an ideologically motivated community he was very excited.

InDepth / Features

God, Are You Threatening Me?

By Hannah Dreyfus

While fear used to motivate, even inspire, mine is a generation that views threats as challenges and raises a skeptical brow at austere ultimatums. Reverence often seems a throwback to old times, and absolute authority, whether in classroom or in the synagogue, is a concept increasingly more difficult to swallow. As a counselor at an Orthodox Jewish sleep-away camp this past summer, I witnessed this phenomenon first hand. I worked with forty teenage girls, ages 15 and 16, and quickly discovered the most dependable way to get nothing done: threats.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: The Jews Of South Africa

By Ezra James Nollet

The oldest Jewish settlements arose in Cape Town, Kimberley, Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Burgersdorp. The settlements in Grahamstown and Graaf Reinet have dissolved. There was a (Jewish) community established in Cape Town, which is the oldest is South Africa, while in Johannesburg, which today houses the largest Jewish settlement in the country, the settlement was first built there in 1887, when about 88 settlers came in from England and Australia to develop the mineral wealth of the land.

Features On The Jewish World

The Gangte Family: Formerly of Neve Dekalim; Now Of Nitzan

By Jewish Press Staff

The family: My name is Avin Gangte. I am a member of the Benei Menashe community hailing from the north-eastern states of Manipur and Mizoram in India. I am married to Hagit who is also from the same community and we have five children.

Features On The Jewish World / Potpourri

Southern Hospitality

By Karen Greenberg

One of the most popular tourist destinations in the American South, Savannah, Georgia is a world of exciting history and activity. Rich with landmarks from over 275 years, the city boasts unique architecture, Civil War commemorative tours, and a long list of beautiful squares and parks. In addition, Savannah’s Tybee Island provides a beach atmosphere for those who want to relax on and off-shore. Interestingly, Savannah also hosts a small but thriving Jewish community. The Savannah Jewish Federation offers family services and community resources, and there are a number of places to find kosher food. The city has three shuls: one for Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform congregations, respectively. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with Rabbi Avigdor and Rebbetzin Rochel Slatus of the Bnai Brith Jacob Synagogue.

Features On The Jewish World

Tens Of Thousands Celebrate Historic Siyum HaShas

By Rabbi Raphael Fuchs

Neither the threat of rain nor heavy traffic prevented the huge throng of enthusiastic participants from attending the 12th Siyum HaShas last Wednesday, August 1 at MetLife Stadium. The event, which attracted more than 90,000 people, was in celebration of the conclusion of the seven-and-a-half year learning cycle of the Babylonian Talmud.

Features On The Jewish World

The Wechsler Family: Formerly Of Neve Dekalim; Now Of Nitzan

By Jewish Press Staff

The family: My name is Liora and I made aliya from Toronto when I was 16. That was 29 years ago and I came without my family. I lived in Neve Dekalim for 18 years. I met my husband Elimelech during my first year of college. He was studying in Yeshivat Hesder Yamit which was located in Neve Dekalim. When we go t married we decided to stay in Gush Katif until we completed our studies.

Features On The Jewish World

Before The Deluge: Kenya-Uganda (British East Africa)

By Ezra James Nollet

In 1903, the English colonial minister offered a district for a Jewish settlement in Uganda to the Zionist leadership, whereby the English government brought to realization its efforts “to bring to pass the improvement of the Jewish race.” The 6th Zionist Congress (August 23-8, 1903) concerned itself with the English offer and decided to send an investigative commission to Uganda, but because of strong resistance inside the Zionist organization, the project was not followed up.

Features On The Jewish World / Upcoming Events

A Celebration Seven And A Half Years In The Making

By Sandy Eller

With the countdown to the twelfth Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi now down to the single digits, organizers of the event are working furiously to ensure that the massive event, for which all 93,000 available tickets have been sold, goes off without a hitch.

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