Issue

Volume # 0

Spring 2015(5775)

In this issue
Memories of Passover with a Modern Twist
Passover

Memories of Passover with a Modern Twist

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
Reviews

The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table

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 […]

What’s the Truth about . . . the Sale of Chametz on Pesach?
Jewish Law

What’s the Truth about . . . the Sale of Chametz on Pesach?

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
Reviews

Patterns in Genesis and Beyond

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 […]

From Homemade to Store-bought: the Evolving Passover Diet
Food

From Homemade to Store-bought: the Evolving Passover Diet

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
Reviews

Birkas Yitzchak: Chidushim U-ve’urim al HaTorah

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 […]

Israel

Israeli Civility

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 […]

Do Jews Have a Future in Europe?
Jewish World

Do Jews Have a Future in Europe?

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 […]

A Second Chance
Health

A Second Chance

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 […]

Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred
Jewish Thought

Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred

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, […]

Mediterranean Diet Makeover
Health

Mediterranean Diet Makeover

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 […]

Hate on Campus
Jewish World

Hate on Campus

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. […]

A Conversation with Natan Sharansky
Jewish World

A Conversation with Natan Sharansky

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 […]

Replying to Richard Dawkins
Science & Technology

Replying to Richard Dawkins

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

Running for Life
Health

Running for Life

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 […]

On Guard in Jerusalem
Israel

On Guard in Jerusalem

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 […]

New Books from OU Press
New Books from OU Press

New Books from OU Press

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 […]

Jewish World

What We Can Do

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). […]

Jewish World

Is Your Synagogue Safe?

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 […]

Jews Don’t Feel Safe in France: French Aliyah Soars
Aliyah

Jews Don’t Feel Safe in France: French Aliyah Soars

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 […]

Living A Double Life
Opinion

Living A Double Life

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, […]

Ebola: A New Disease with an Ancient Tradition
Health

Ebola: A New Disease with an Ancient Tradition

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 […]