יום שישי, כ״ב אלול תשפ״וFriday, September 4, 2026
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As we are surrounded by fall’s beautiful foliage outside, how about bringing some color, creativity and fun indoors as well. This activity is perfect for a long Sunday afternoon – you won’t be“leaf” how much your children will enjoy creating these “tree”ts.
This week we deal with Chanukah presents and the kids who probably don’t deserve them:
Sibling relationships are a world of their own. By nature complex, the intricate dynamic is thrown for a giant loop when a special-needs sibling enters the picture.
The fact that the Jewish Museum’s curator Susan Tumarkin Goodman presents these issues as the inescapable core of her exhibition demonstrates the courage to challenge her audience with deeply discomforting images and concepts.
But even though their medical situations were similar, how they mentally dealt with their new status quo was often as different as night and day.
How do I continue to be happy in my marriage while maintaining my inner sense of modesty? How can I relay this message to my husband without hurting him or our relationship?
Fifth-grader Yitzi cannot speak in front of the classroom. In fact, it is a wrestling act just to get him into the classroom to begin with. He refuses to get together with friends after school and spends much of his time at home alone in his bedroom. When his parents try to speak with him to try to figure out what is wrong, he cannot answer. Instead, he turns red and starts to sweat.
If you or your child suffers from panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, unrelenting worries or incapacitating phobias, you or your child may have an anxiety disorder – which does not mean that you have to live with anxiety and fear.
Last week, Israel’s Habayit Hayehudi Party spearheaded a new nationwide marriage registration bill into law. The bill, the Tzohar Law, was passed in a 54-17 vote.
It is really very hard for me to honestly believe that my oldest grandson, Jack Benveniste-Plitt, is about to become bar mitzvah. How is it possible that the same child whose infant socks slipped from his too-small feet is now almost as tall as me and wearing men’s size sneakers?
The RASG Hebrew Academy has always had much to be proud of. The school offers students the finest of both Judaic and secular curriculum. The faculty, student body, parents and leadership are top notch. The atmosphere is upbeat and inspirational.
The 34th annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival will be held on December 1 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach. The star-studded program promises to be the best ever. The unique celebration has become the highlight of South Florida’s Chanukah holiday.
Rebbetzin Hanna Tennenhaus, a”h, passed away on Simchas Torah, 23 Tishrei, 5774/Sept. 27, 2013. She was 89. A shloshim was held in her honor at Chabad of South Broward Headquarters,1295 East Hallendale Beach Blvd, on October 29.
Touro College South, in cooperation with The Shul of Bal Harbour, will present a series of three workshops on new teaching technologies for educators in Jewish schools.
By Irwin Cohen
Brooklyn native Lipman Pike was one of baseball's earliest paid players.
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.
Shira was a latecomer to Orthodoxy, having grown up in Lawrence, Long Island, where her family and most of the other members of the Orthodox Beth Sholem Congregation were not shomer Shabbos.
By Sandy Eller
This year, given that the biggest shopping day of the year actually falls out on the second day of Chaunkah, it depends on timing.
Make sure to keep things light when you're out together, and maximize that limited time by participating in fun and mutually enjoyable activities.
“Your job is to give information,” I said, “but there are a lot of reasons why children don’t pay attention. It isn’t always about whether they ‘want’ to. Maybe they are afraid of failure, maybe they have learning disorders. As a teacher, you can motivate and inspire them to achieve.”
We had suffered through an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. My wife had to go through labor and deliver our children to their deaths, and I was unable to save them or even give them a little warmth while they died.
“We’ve had a relationship with the LAPD senior leadership for many years,” said Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, director of the OU West Coast Region. “And it is vitally important that we keep that alive as we show the Police Department that we care about them and the work they do.”
Deborah Raskin, principal at Or HaChaim Academy, an Orthodox elementary school for girls and boys with a middle school for boys in North Hollywood, is one of four recipients of the Milken Jewish Educator Awards.
There are many observant Jews who contributed much to secular and Jewish life in America and yet have, unfortunately, been essentially forgotten. One such man is Adolphus Simson Solomons (1826-1910).
Lynda Caspe’s current exhibition at the Derfner Museum is an extraordinary event. In this show of 12 bronze relief sculptures and 14 cityscape paintings we have the opportunity to see the full scope of her last six years of work that, as least with the sculptures, marked a radical change in subject matter and technique.
How confusing it was growing up with conflicting messages. On the one hand, we were told, even admonished, to eat everything on our generously piled up plates (it was a sin to waste food), yet we were made to feel like we were a lower form of human being if we were overweight.
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.
Dear Readers: We often hear about the difficulties so many of our wonderful singles face in finding their basherts. Our community is always seeking new methods and initiatives to make the process of introduction easier and more efficient. Here are two letters – the first from a woman, the second from a man – both of whom met their spouses with the help of an innovative frum dating website, ZivugZone.com.
Picture this: A child is jumping around the room, arms flailing, and interrupting the teacher. Was the child you pictured male or female? Chances are, you imagined a boy.
Stacy and George walked out of the marriage counselor's office angrier than when they arrived. It was their third session and this last fight over his ex-wife wasn't going away. The fifty minutes spent embroiled in a detailed account of their battle only fired up their anger – and the counselor's request to remember how much they love each other wasn't helping. It would be a week before the next session and both of them were already talking about not coming back.
A horrific case of cyber-bullying apparently led to the suicide of a Lakeland, Florida girl named Rebecca Sedwick. A month ago Rebecca jumped to her death from an abandoned building. She was 12 years old. The child had been tormented by online postings. One told her “to drink bleach and die.”
A body can be locked up. The soul can still soar. Life-changing moments can happen in the most unexpected circumstances.
Slated to run in some 150 locations around the world, A Reason to Celebrate is a meaningful, personal and spiritual journey through special days on the Jewish calendar. Through exploring the deeper, mystical significance of these days, they become lenses through which we gain insight into our relationships and our identities as Jewish women, and catalysts that empower us to implement positive change in our lives.
“What I find most exciting about the Hahn Family Ultra Weekend is the diversity among the teens,” said Todd Cohn, Southern NCSY’s executive director. “The teens from all different schools and backgrounds will come together for one inspirational, empowerment weekend.”
By Sandy Eller
How to begin describing one of the best meals I have ever eaten? I suppose logic, and the “Sound of Music” song, would dictate that I start at the beginning.
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.
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.
“I learned something important early on in my army career: the army will accommodate your religious needs—if you stand up for your rights. To be a frum soldier in the IDF, you need a little chutzpah,” says Fayga Marks, an ultra-Orthodox girl and a veteran Israeli soldier.
Supercharged foods – a term you might have heard bandied about, but what are they? A simple definition would be any food that is unprocessed, whole and nutrient rich. Below are some suggestions of supercharged foods to add to your diet.
By Pnina Baim
I have worked as a nutritionist at a WIC office in Williamsburg for five years now, and combined with my observation of my children’s friends, I’ve come to a realization. Most people are no longer eating food, but rather food-like substances, and worse, they are feeding their children the same.
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.
Converting to Judaism through an Orthodox rabbi is an excruciatingly difficult process, not for the faint of heart. It’s a very lonely road and nothing short of a true commitment to Torah can provide the resilience, bravery and fortitude to go through this process. Although some converts are indeed blessed with supportive, understanding families, many aren’t as lucky. And the isolation is part of the many sacrifices made to be closer to Hashem.
We all know that kids love tattling on one another, letting you know when a sibling or classmate did something wrong. While this type of peer pressure can discourage children from misbehaving, it also creates a negative environment in the classroom and home. Children often feel like their siblings or classmates are “out to get” them.
Most people are not aware that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population).
By dvora
American society as a whole has accepted the view of the medical establishment that childhood vaccinations are both safe and necessary to protect the health of our children. But there are parents who accept the views disseminated over the Internet and social media by a small but vocal minority of doctors and researchers who claim that current vaccines, and the way in which they are administered, present significant risks to the health of very young children.
Green cleaning has been defined as sanitary techniques with reduced effects on the environment and health of individuals using a building. In purchasing cleaning supplies from a supermarket, customers should avoid any products containing solvents, phosphates, and other destructive chemicals.
As you explore possibilities to care for your aging parents, and review all the different options, you may decide that having them live with you is the best option. There are certainly challenges to this arrangement, but many people have found that living in a multigenerational house can be an enriching experience for the whole family. However, no matter how close your family relationships are, adding another person to the household changes things. There are many things to take into account when considering this option.
Adults who experience hearing loss let an average of seven years go by from the time they realize they're missing things to doing something about it.
The collective conscious of our greater community seems to be suffering from a high degree of panic and anxiety in relation to the topic of “teens-at-risk.” Just bringing up this topic is enough to send people into semi-hysteria.
Have you ever wondered why your daughter, who looks beautiful to you, complains of being “fat” or “ugly”? If so, you are not alone. “Body Dissatisfaction,” which is defined as feeling unhappy about a certain physical feature, has reached epidemic proportions among teenage girls. The National Institute on Media and the Family reports that at age 13, 53% of girls are unhappy with their bodies. This figure reaches 78% by age 17. While the forces contributing to this problem are pervasive, there are things that you and your daughter can do to promote a healthy body image.
If you have ever observed a child for more than five minutes, you will inevitably see him/her playing. Play is the central aspect of childhood – across gender, culture, and age. This article will attempt to give insight into why children play and what function it serves, both in general and in therapeutic settings.
On Sunday, Oct. 6 Etta Israel’s 4th group home, the Aaron Bloom Home in North Hollywood, officially opened.
With more than 150 alumni establishing themselves in an array of professional and communal careers and 15 new graduates this fall, Yeshiva University’s Presidential Fellowship in University and Community Leadership is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Yitzy Frankel of Los Angeles has been selected for this year’s cohort.
During Chol HaMoed Sukkot, The Orthodox Jewish Chaplaincy Board (OJCB) conducted holiday programs for Jewish inmates at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail and Twin Tower Correctional Facility.
Yom Tov is no longer upon us, for a change, so now it’s time to get to the things we promised we’d do after it was over. I mean besides dieting. Maybe we’ll do that after the next Yom Tov.
The Dome of the Rock, often represented with an Islamic crescent on top, became the image for the Temple in Jewish, Christian and Moslem art for over 500 years. How and why this historical anomaly persisted is the subject of a fascinating in-depth study of Jewish, Christian and Moslem imagery and its interpretation spanning more than 2,000 years of biblical & later history by Dr. Pamela Berger, professor of Medieval Art at Boston College, Boston, MA.
"What are the 3 best reasons to be a teacher? June, July and August!"
While in New York recently, I was invited to see a performance of "Waiting for Godot" – a multi-layered play on the human condition that I was introduced to in high school. What was fascinating and unique about this particular production was that this renowned play was being performed in Yiddish - with English and Russian subtitles beamed onto a screen for non-Yiddish speakers. (Staged by the New Yiddish Rep, at the Castillo Theatre, and directed by Moshe Yassur, it stars Shane Baker, David Mandelbaum, Rafael Goldwaser, Avi Hoffman and Nicholas Jenkins.)
Tell her that you know how much effort she puts into raising her children and that you never meant to criticize her.
“Mrs. Schapiro. Hi, this is Mrs. Rosenfeld from XYZ Yeshiva. I am calling you because I noticed that your son’s birthday is September 28. We have recently pushed the cutoff date at our school from January 1 to September 1. Because of that, I am afraid Yaacov won’t be able to apply to kindergarten until next year.”
Special Note: It is an unusual phenomenon that many bereaved parents share. We can almost see our age-adjusted children in our sukkah or running up to us during a family simcha. As quickly as they come, those visions seem to disappear as we go through the life cycle. They are hard moments made harder by the thoughts of not only what could have been, but what should have been.
The holidays are over. The busy swirl of frenzied activity has passed. The Jewish world has caught its collective breath, the kids have gone back to school, adults have returned to work. and we’re all getting on with the usual rhythm of their lives.
Skylake Synagogue, located at 1850 NE 183rd Street in North Miami Beach, has introduced a unique enterprise – The Closet – to South Florida. The project is housed in a small building, next to the shul, and has been renovated to look like a boutique shop.
The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) will present Life in the Balance: Jewish Perspectives on Everyday Medical Dilemmas, the institute’s new six-session Fall 2013 course that will begin during the week of Tuesday, October 29.
South Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has good news for hungry travelers. Kosher food is now available to passengers at JetBlue’s Terminal 3, Concourse F. Chef Allen’s 2 Go Kosher refrigerated kiosk opened on September 30. It is a welcomed accommodation to the many kosher consumers who stream through the busy airport.
By Irwin Cohen
The World Series was born 110 years ago. So were the New York Yankees, as New York inherited the remnants of the old Baltimore Orioles, a charter member of the new American League that was formed in 1901. A year later the team was headed to last place and bankruptcy. Manager John McGraw jumped to the National League New York Giants to assume the same position and brought some Orioles players with him.
Prior to the summer, Jewish tennis had been characterized by the men who performed well on the big stages, including Dudi Sela, Canadian Jesse Levine, Amir Weintraub and doubles stars Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
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.
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.
Dear Dr. Yael: Unfortunately, for the last several years our beloved son (we will call him Shmuel) has become estranged from us. This occurred immediately after his wedding in Israel.
“This is a great honor for me to be nominated to the list of ‘young innovators’ of MIT. I hope that it will encourage more Israeli researchers and scholars to study this field, to facilitate the building of an empirical superpower in Israel,” Dr. Kira Radinsky said in response to news of her selection for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2013 list of 35 young innovators, her lovely face radiating delight.
When I was fourteen years old I understood that I might never return to Moscow and live at home with my parents. While I had lived the bulk of my life in Moscow, at the start of high school I was going to assimilate into the American system of education and the world of American teenageism. I was excited.
Gershon got up from the chessboard and walked away slowly, pouting as he headed to the bathroom. His father watched him go and once again wondered if he had made a mistake in playing competitively against his son. Gershon hated to lose, but how could he improve if his father always let him win?
The therapeutic alliance has always been about a firm connection between patient and counselor. There has always been one primary standard - physically meeting in an office setting. There might be some phone calls in between sessions or to bridge some vacation gap. But therapy has always been about a feeling of connectivity and there is no better way to do this than face-to-face.
By Sandy Eller
It's hard to believe that it is the beginning of October and the Yomim Tovim are already behind us. But having had everything fall out early this year provides a golden opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather and all that the crisp air has to offer.
As a result of more than 15 inches of rainfall over a matter of days in Boulder, Colorado and surrounding areas last month – killing seven people, causing damage to more than 15,000 others, and destroying nearly 2,000 homes – synagogues and its scheduled services took a major blow.
This past summer, Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education graduated its second group of students and inaugurated a third. The program is one of the few to focus on the unique role experiential Jewish education plays in the transmission of Jewish values and traditions. It arms practitioners with research, methodology and skills in order to increase their effectiveness on the job.
Cholera was officially recognized to be of epidemic proportions in New York City on June 26, 1832. The epidemic was at its peak in July and 3,515 out of a population of about 250,000 died. (The equivalent death toll in today’s city of eight million would exceed 100,000.) Sadly, in 1832 there were no effective treatments available for those who contracted this disease.
The philosopher Theodor Adorno famously wrote in 1949, “cultural criticism finds itself with the final stage of the dialectic of culture and barbarism. To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” This statement posited that the Holocaust exposed the unredeemable rotten underbelly of Western culture and therefore the very notion of creating beauty and sensitivity was at an insurmountable impasse. Alas, as cultural history has shown, he was wrong. Strikingly, it might be said that one of the few ways still provocatively available to speak about the Holocaust is in fact through poetry.
By Sari Abraham
At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to use it at all. I had thought the concept was perfect. A rose-colored background, surrounding black encroaching from all sides. It would be a cave of warmth, a hiding place within the darkness.
September 4, 2026 
