After the light foods of summer, more wholesome fare may be appealing with the coming of fall. Eggplant Relish 4 servings Eggplant is a versatile vegetable that can be prepared in a variety of ways. This dish is quite easy to make since the bell peppers are not peeled, just diced. I like to serve […]

Advocate for the Doomed: The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald, 1932-1935 Edited by Richard Breitman, Barbara McDonald Stewart and Severin Hochberg Indiana University Press, in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Indiana, 2007 839 pages   Though James G. McDonald strove to save German Jews from the Nazi menace and contributed […]

Misconception: According to rabbinic tradition, a pomegranate (rimon) has 613 seeds. Fact: The pomegranate is used in rabbinic tradition as an example of a fruit that contains many seeds, but not necessarily 613. Background: The pomegranate (Punica granatum1) has been cultivated all over the Mediterranean region since ancient times, and was well known in the […]

In January 2008, Jewish Action invited seven prominent veteran rabbis, with a combined 350 years of leadership in the Orthodox community, to reflect on the unpredictable growth and remarkable evolution of American Jewry. The participants were Rabbis Rafael Grossman, Joseph Grunblatt, David Hollander, Dr. Gilbert Klaperman, Ralph Pelcovitz, Fabian Schonfeld and Max Schreier. The discussion, […]

  In this tribute, Professor Levi explores Rabbi Hirsh’s unique outlook and leadership during an especially challenging period in Jewish history. The reader may be amazed to find the term “our times” applied to a personality born two centuries ago. However, today’s Torah leadership is indeed facing almost exactly the same challenges that confronted Western […]

“In the period that will precede the coming of Mashiach . . . youth will blanch the faces of elders; elders will stand in the presence of minors—the son derides his father; a daughter rises against her mother [and] a daughter-in-law against her mother–in-law” (Sotah 49b). “Michael, it’s not right to take things that don’t […]

Five hundred million arrive annually. They come by air, but do not have to wait in long lines at passport control or watch the baggage carousel make endless circuits until their luggage finally appears. The names of some of these visitors—storks, cranes, egrets, gulls, cormorants and ducks—detail a bit about their travels. And their destination? […]

While some people were trying to make a killing in the nineties dot-com explosion, Jacob Gubits was quietly trying to kill the Internet. Not all of it, mind you. Just the parts that don’t belong in observant homes. While dot-coms fizzled unceremoniously, Gubits’ Koshernet operation has taken off. No topic we’ve dealt with in Bytes […]

  If keeping mitzvot in a small Jewish community is a challenge today, imagine how much more of a struggle it would be if you had to paper the walls of your wood cabin with newspapers to keep out the cold and carry water home from the creek for cooking and washing. This was the […]

How will our children learn about the evils of drug use if we don’t talk to them about it?

I was an extremely creative child. I was a big reader. I would paint, draw pictures and write short stories and poems. I played guitar, bass and drums and wrote music. And I loved the great outdoors—camping, hiking and fishing. We moved around a lot when I was a kid. My father is a banker […]

* 5769 is a “shanah peshutah,” a “regular” year of twelve months (only one Adar). * The year 5769 will begin on a Tuesday (Rosh Hashanah will be Tuesday and Wednesday), which is the least common of the four possible starting days for the Jewish year. Because of the calendrical rule known as “Lo A-D-U […]

This list of resources, while far from comprehensive, includes some of the major US-based organizations dedicated to assisting at-risk youth and their families. Aish Tamid of Los Angeles 9505 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Phone: (323) 634-0505 Fax: (310) 634-0106 info@aishtamid.org www.aishtamid.org Rabbi Avi Leibovic, founder and executive director Jay Greenberger, clinical director […]

Does the Torah take more of a socialist or a capitalist approach to society? The Torah, in fact, embraces aspects of both socialism and capitalism. The Aseret Hadibrot, Ten Commandments, concludes with a warning not to covet one’s neighbor’s property,1 which underscores an appreciation for individual ownership. Masechet Avot2 understands that a society that eschews […]

I always feel weak when I fast—and I get a headache halfway through the day. Can you share any nutrition tips to help me feel better this Yom Kippur?

Serena is the very first one to step into the auditorium, her steps timed to the beat of “Pomp and Circumstance” banged out on the old piano. She is the shortest by a hair of the twelfth-grade graduating class, not quite four feet eleven inches, with shiny black hair; a very starched white shirt peeks […]