Matzah balls evoke special memories for most people. In our family, everyone’s favorite part of the chicken soup is that wonderful white matzah ball floating in the center of the bowl. In addition to soup and matzah balls, there’s always brisket, kugel and potatoes in some form on my family’s Passover menu. I hope you […]
The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table By Jeff and Jodie Morgan Schocken Books/OU Press New York, 2015 272 pages Reviewed by Barbara Bensoussan Opening The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table feels like an invitation into the sun-drenched, casually elegant world of authors Jeff and Jodie […]
Misconception: Along with chametz food that one sells to his rabbi, one also sells chametzdik dishes for the duration of Pesach. Fact: The rabbi does not buy the chametz but merely acts as an agent in the sale to a non-Jew. Dishes are usually not included in the sale. Background: There are several prohibitions surrounding […]
Patterns in Genesis and Beyond By Rabbi David Sykes Patterns Publications 2014 589 pages Reviewed by Hayyim Angel The field of literary analysis of Tanach has been substantially refined over the past four decades. New scholarly insights continue to illuminate the text and its messages. One person’s peshat is another person’s derash, and we can […]
With supermarket shelves bulging with Passover muffins, Passover granola and even Passover breadsticks, it’s hard to grasp that for much of history, this holiday’s fare was limited to the simple and home-made. In the shtetl, Passover preparations began at Chanukah when housewives rendered chicken and goosefat into schmaltz, the cooking fat of choice before people […]
Birkas Yitzchak: Chidushim U-ve’urim al HaTorah By Rabbi Menachem Genack OU Press New York, 2013 Reviewed by B. David Schreiber Rabbi Menachem Genack’s newest work, Birkas Yitzchak: Chidushim U-ve’urim al HaTorah, reflects the sweeping range of multi-disciplinary scholarship of its renowned and prolific author. Rabbi Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, already highly acclaimed for his […]
By Irv Cantor Inconsiderate behavior, illogical rules and regulations, bureaucracy. How often do you hear American olim complaining about these aspects of Israeli society? Truthfully, however, American olim would adjust much more easily to Israeli society if they would accept the cultural differences. It is also important to realize that cultural norms evolve; even if […]
Who doesn’t love animals? Which child doesn’t look forward to visiting the zoo? A new museum in Beit Shemesh brings visitors up close to many of the animals mentioned in Tanach and the Talmud. Many of the taxidermy exhibits at the Biblical Museum of Natural History are not behind glass. They are in the open, […]
European Jews are beginning to question the viability of a life and future in the countries they call home The idea of focusing a Jewish Action cover story on anti-Semitism was first suggested more than a year ago. Clearly, as a quarterly magazine, Jewish Action cannot attempt to report the news or even try to […]
Overcoming Obesity By Tzippora Price Most doctors identify the period between thirty-five and forty as a time when one can no longer rely on youth and luck to keep oneself healthy. When I reached middle age, my doctors identified my risk level of developing diabetes and heart disease as extremely high due to my family […]
A Theological Approach Understanding anti-Semitism—dubbed by historian Robert Wistrich “the longest hatred”1—is far from simple. Entire libraries explore and agonize over an animus that appears as illogical as it is ineradicable. It is tempting to consign it to the realm of the inscrutable and treat it as a subcategory of the suffering of the righteous, […]
So how do you go about changing over to a more Mediterranean-style diet? In a word: gradually. Slow changes to your lifestyle are more likely to last, so don’t expect to upgrade your eating plan overnight. To get your eating habits closer to where you want them to be, start with these six steps: 1. Switch […]
By Ari Ziegler In February of 2013, when I was a graduate student at Brooklyn College, my campus hosted Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. It was a contentious event that ultimately divided groups on campus. […]
on the situation of the Jews in Europe By Elli Wohlgelernter A former refusenik who previously served in the Knesset and as a minister in the Israeli government, Sharansky has been chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel since 2009. A conversation with Natan Sharansky on the situation for Jews living in Europe is nothing […]
Richard Dawkins—who holds the dubious title of being the world’s most famous atheist—recently promoted a new theory explaining the origin of the universe as the “final nail in the coffin of religious belief.” Below is
What’s It Like to Run a Marathon? When he hit his late twenties, Ben Kramer—a former high school hockey player from Long Island, New York—was living a pretty sedentary lifestyle and was carrying around more than a couple of extra pounds. But he supported his wife, Samantha, when she registered for a half marathon, flying […]
If, like me, you are a man of a certain age who never served in Vietnam or the Israeli army, you have probably also never seen a gun fired in anger. This was certainly the case for the ten or so of us—all greying American and British olim—who came together on a recent evening to […]
One day, while walking through the Shuk, I had a thought: why can’t the Israeli diet become a model for the rest of the world?
Chumash Mesoras HaRav: Sefer Shemos, The Neuwirth Edition With commentary based upon the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Compiled and edited by Dr. Arnold Lustiger OU Press For those seeking the unique form of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment that Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the Rav, represents, entry into the world of his teachings may seem […]
1. Identify the Islamic threat A great deal of the jihadi agitation is fundamentally linked to hatred of Jews and Israel; the West needs to be honest, acknowledge the threat and take it seriously. “I don’t know if we can stem the tide,” says Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC). […]
By Michael Orbach After the Har Nof synagogue massacre in Israel this past November that left four synagogue members and one Israeli police officer dead, followed by the massacre in the kosher supermarket in Paris, security experts in America are urging caution and vigilance. “In the last eighteen months, we’ve seen a paradigm change,” explains […]
In the spring of 2014, Dan Béchar and his wife decided to make aliyah from France with their three kids. By September, they were settled into their new home in Jerusalem. “A few years ago we didn’t give any thought to making aliyah,” says thirty-five-year-old Béchar. “But once we decided to move, we realized we […]
About a year ago, my life changed. Shockingly, my kids weren’t babies anymore, and I went back to work. Well, that’s not quite accurate. I worked when I was home too—but it was freelance. I was an author/illustrator combined with stay-at-home mom. So my life was something like this: carpool, write, paint, make dinner, write, […]
One routine day while on call in the Emergency Department, an Ebola patient presents with nausea and vomiting. Consistent with the disease, there is extensive hemorrhaging from his eyes and mouth. Suddenly his heart stops. A code red is called. I hesitate to tell you what I do next. I hesitate because I honestly do […]
The Rabbi & The Nuns: The Inside Story of a Rabbi’s Therapeutic Work with the Sisters of St. Francis By Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski Mekor Press Brooklyn, 2013 190 pages Reviewed by Steve Lipman A psychiatrist and Chassidic rabbi, Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski has established himself as a master of crossing boundaries—writer of […]