Summer 2017(5777)

While the quintessential Jewish woman of the past most likely did stir pots, roll pastry dough and haggle with vendors, she was also a formidable force in the business world.

A Harvard graduate who just came out with her thirty-third book discusses her decades-long career as a writer of Jewish children’s books.

Which book would you recommend children read this summer and why?

In the Limelight by Bayla Sheva Brenner Rabbi’s Son Syndrome by Dovid Bashevkin

Despite the expectations, visibility and sacrifice, these children of rabbis or high-profile rebbetzins saw close-up what it means to take a community under one’s wing, and to dedicate one’s life to uplifting others.

A rabbinic home, one would assume, would be the best environment in which to be raised in order to ensure lifelong religious commitment. Nonetheless, children of rabbis, and clergy in general, often have a particular struggle with religion.

“Everything I do in the rabbinate, I’ve done in OU-JLIC,”

It’s very painful to be aware of what the security standards are and to know that your school falls short because it cannot possibly afford to implement them.

Even in the best-case scenario, there are hundreds of changes that need to take place before an “almost kosher” restaurant can become kosher.

Instead of getting stressed out that stress is hurting you, think of the stress response as a way your body becomes stronger, getting you ready to face adversity.

Easy, elegant dishes that are perfect as family fare, yet are fancy and fabulous enough for guests.

By Ari Wasserman Feldheim Publishers New York, 2016 538 pages Reviewed by Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer When I saw the cover of Making It Work: A Practical Guide to Halacha in the Workplace, I admit feeling pessimistic. The cover highlights three questions the book addresses: – What is the halachah regarding shaking a woman’s hand if […]

Twenty-five centuries ago, one such unexpected leader, stepping into the fray at the height of an existential crisis for the newly returned Babylonian exiles in Jerusalem, was successful in altering the course of Jewish history for the next 700 years.

Reviews By Rabbi Gil Student Rav and Rebbe By Chaim Dalfin Jewish Enrichment Press New York, 2016 379 pages Rabbi Chaim Dalfin conducted extensive interviews to amass the network of facts and memories about two great Jewish leaders of the twentieth century, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (“the Rav”) and Rabbi Menachem Schneerson (“the Rebbe”). As […]

By Ari Z. Zivotofsky Misconception: Chava fed Adam an apple in the Garden of Eden. Fact: The fruit’s identity is not revealed in the Biblical text, and while early Jewish sources offer a variety of suggestions about which fruit Chava fed Adam, an apple is not one of them. Background: Shortly after God created man, […]

The whole experience encapsulated what Judaism is all about: spreading love and kindness to others.