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