Articles

Team Israel’s Cody Decker continues his playful ways – even in American professional baseball. Cody Decker was arguably the heart, soul and class clown of Israel’s baseball team, which took the world by surprise in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Decker and his teammates won the qualifiers… Read more...

Despite a decade age gap, Julia and Lina Glushko are inseparable — on and off the court When Julia Glushko began playing on the pro tennis tour in 2004, her sister Lina was a little girl of four. Fourteen years later, Lina is following in Julia’s footsteps — no mean feat, considering the… Read more...

When E.’s plane from Amman touched down in Rome, she started to cry. After spending a semester studying abroad in Jordan, E., in town to visit friends, felt she could safely put on her Star of David necklace and her prized “If I Forget Thee O Jerusalem” necklace. Every year, according to… Read more...

The ESJF was founded in 2015 to protect Jewish burial sites in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in places where Jewish communities were wiped out during the Holocaust. So far, it has placed fences around 102 Jewish cemeteries in six European countries and conducted mass field surveys of… Read more...

Sometimes what happens in Vegas shouldn’t just stay in Vegas. Levi Harlig’s extraordinary bar mitzvah is one of them. Levi gave a flawless reading of Parshat Naso, the longest Torah portion of the year, and delivered a Chassidic discourse in Yiddish and Hebrew last Shabbat morning at Chabad of… Read more...

There is a moving, somewhat entertaining scene in the recently released film “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” where Moshe Abutbul, the mayor of Bet Shemesh, invites the 10 visiting American baseball players from Team Israel and their significant others to help him dig a hole in the… Read more...

Highlights of Canada’s first-ever Jewish disability conference. The “Pushing the Boundaries: Disabilities, Inclusion and Jewish Community” conference, April 15-17th in Toronto, truly pushed the boundaries. A severe ice storm and brief power outage may have been minor inconveniences, but they… Read more...

A look at how one Chabad rabbi is helping Jewish families confront mental health issues. It was 12:46 on Shabbat afternoon at the Chabad House in Salt Lake City Utah. Rabbi Benny Zippel glanced at his watch, looked at his son, Rabbi Avremi, and looked around the lunchroom. He counted several women… Read more...

A new film spotlights a superlative musician and exceptional human who happens to use crutches. In the disabilities world, we learn the importance of using person- first language. A person is not “wheelchair-bound,” rather he is a person who may also be a father, lawyer and expert Scrabble… Read more...

In the late 1960’s, Herb and Barbara Greenberg, two teachers working in the field of special education, approached several Jewish summer camps with a novel idea: why not include children with disabilities at camp? At the time, this was an unheard-of idea, and the Greenbergs encountered a lot of… Read more...

The longtime timekeeper for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Max Weinberg, talks about his Jewish heritage and his upcoming first visit to Israel. While his more famous “boss,” Bruce Springsteen, has been out front on international sold-out stages for over 40 years, drummer Max Weinberg… Read more...

The first-ever Ramah Tikvah Birthright Israel trip was a big success! At the farewell dinner in Tel Aviv on the last night of our ten day Birthright Israel Amazing Israel Ramah Tikvah trip, we went around the table sharing memories and trip highlights. The 21 participants with intellectual and… Read more...

Israel made the biggest jump in the World Baseball Softball Confederation World Rankings in 2017, advancing from No. 41 to No. 19. The blue-and-white defeated four Top 10 nations – Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Korea and Netherlands – in its World Baseball Classic debut in March of last year. Team… Read more...

The kosher world continues to grow and diversify If your bubbe had been one of the 6,000 members of the kosher food industry to attend the recent Kosherfest trade show in Secaucus, New Jersey, she would have barely recognized a single product on display at the nearly 400 booths. Even staples such… Read more...

There are some topics people are happy to discuss with their friends and fellow congregants at kiddush after Shabbat services (and unfortunately, at times, even during services). Popular topics include local sports teams, the weather, the stock market, recent developments at local schools and… Read more...

Dana Mathewson hits lightning serves and ground strokes and races to return seemingly out of reach tennis balls on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the prestigious U.S. Open tennis tournament. Yet, her name is not nearly as well known in the tennis world as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams…. Read more...

Two young Israeli boys were riding their bikes along Manhattan’s East River Esplanade near Carl Schurz Park at 84th Street. They looked up, smiled, and called to their father in Hebrew: “Abba, look! A sukkah!” Inside, a young couple with daughters 2 and 4 years old were enjoying a… Read more...

Lia Kes is involved in every aspect of the design process, visiting factories, meeting with customers, and selecting dyes and recycling materials for garments. NEW YORK – Lia Kes’s fashion show threw guests for a loop during a recent New York Fashion Week event at the Beekman Hotel in Lower… Read more...

NEW YORK – Three years ago, a young, relatively unknown tennis player from Argentina sat with a curious Jerusalem Post reporter in the Media Center of the US Open. Despite his at-the-time recently-achieved career high ranking of No. 61 (he is now ranked 28th in the world), few reporters were… Read more...

NEW YORK – Three weeks of US Open tennis – from the qualifiers and the finals – drew to a close Sunday evening in New York City. Even with the absence of big names like Novak Djokavic, Andy Murray and Serena Williams, the tournament generated a great deal of excitement. Four American women… Read more...

A difficult day for the youngster. In late afternoon action, the Israeli No. 6 seed lost to Uisung Park of South Korea 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, with the final set lasting only 22 minutes. Then, under the lights and with the wind kicking up, just a few steps from Arthur Ashe Stadium where the crowd was… Read more...

“In this kind of match and with this type of opponent, confidence was tough.” NEW YORK – Diego Schwartzman’s magical run at the US Open came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when he encountered Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals during the day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Carreno Busta… Read more...

A difficult day for the youngster NEW YORK – Yshai Oliel’s US Open run was cut short Tuesday with shocking second-round upsets in both juniors singles and doubles. In late afternoon action, the Israeli No. 6 seed lost to Uisung Park of South Korea 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, with the final set lasting only… Read more...

Schwartzman is loving the New York crowd, which has cheered for him throughout his matches so far. NEW YORK – Diego Schwartzman is having the time of his life in the Big Apple. He hasn’t been to a Broadway show or a Yankees game, but he has twice been to the Grandstand at the US Open and… Read more...

"The Jerusalem Post” spoke to tennis star Madison Brengle about her first round of the US Open and religion. NEW YORK – With Shahar Peer’s retirement in February after reaching a career high No. 11 tennis ranking in 2011 and Julia Glushko’s fall from a high of 79 in 2014 to her current slot… Read more...

If the 800 hot dogs sold on Day 1 of the US Open is an indicator, it is going to be a great two weeks in Queens. NEW YORK – Day 2 at the US Open featured suspension of play for rain and ultimately cancellation of all matches not taking place in Arthur Ashe Stadium, with its retractable roof…. Read more...

Querrey’s lightning serve helped him dictate the match to win in a quick one hour and twenty minutes. The enthusiastic chants of the partisan New York crowd could not carry Dudi Sela to victory in his second round US Open match Wednesday evening against world No. 21 Sam Querrey. Querrey’s… Read more...

Sela is aiming to reach the third round in New York for the first time in his career. Dudi Sela marked his 10th trip to the US Open with a first round victory over 21-year-old wild card recipient, Christopher Eubanks on Monday. Sela’s first meeting with the hard hitting 6-foot-7 inch Georgia… Read more...

Loeb – ranked 156th in the world – acknowledged that she “had to battle” on court in a match which featured “interesting calls.” Loeb highlights “staying mentally strong” as the key to the match. NEW YORK – After an impressive run at the US Open Qualifying Tournament, 22-yearold… Read more...

NEW YORK – Day 2 of the US Open Qualifying Singles Tournament saw American Mitchell Krueger come from behind to beat Canadian Brayden Schnur. Schnur and Krueger also provided decent material for Jewish fans scanning the draw sheets in hopeful search for Jewish names. Krueger, No. 198 in the… Read more...

No longer the face of Israeli tennis, retired star opens up about her impressive career and post-playing life As Dudi Sela, Jonathan Erlich, and Yshai Oliel pack up their rackets, shoes and other tennis essentials and head to New York for the US Open, Shahar Pe’er, Israel’s greatest woman… Read more...

ZABS Place in North Carolina provides on-site job training and business skills “Hello, welcome to ZABS Place! My name is Aaron.” Aaron Roochvarg sports an award-winning smile. He’s there at the door, enthusiastically greeting customers when they enter the store and asking if they need any… Read more...

When Adam Bizonwaty visited Israel at age 8, he was afraid of everything. “When my family went camel riding I stayed in the taxi cab crying. And I was terrified of the Dead Sea mud.” Bitznowaty spoke with The Jerusalem Post by phone about his connection to Israel. “I want to go back to Israel… Read more...

Former Tikvah participant joins Israel hike to benefit the program that supported him in younger years There is an important concept in the disabilities inclusion world known as “Nothing About Us Without Us.” This simply means that decisions or conversations having to do with people with… Read more...

The power of sharing stories while biking and hiking through Israel to benefit National Ramah Tikvah Network From Wednesday through Friday during the second week of May, bike riders and hikers on the fourth biennial Ramah Israel Bike Ride and Hiking Trip pedaled and hiked through the 108 degree… Read more...

In 1978, Deadheads secretly prayed that the Grateful Dead would cross the border from Egypt in to Israel and perform in the Sinai Desert after their three-day gig at the Great Pyramid of Giza. Their wish for a miracle never panned out and the Dead never played a concert in Israel – though Jewish… Read more...

Welcome to Tikvah Connects, a new publication of the National Ramah Commission, connecting you several times a year with news about members of the Tikvah community and exciting Tikvah events. Nearly every Rosh Hashanah and Passover since 1984, I have received beautiful handwritten cards from… Read more...

Jews seem to be fascinated by the topic of Jews in sports – regardless of the sport, team, country or time period in history. If you present a program entitled, “Jews in Sports: Beyond Sandy Koufax,” they will come. When the event is free, in New York City and features legendary baseball… Read more...

Two players’ journeys from Yale to the Red Sox to Team Israel. Like many Yale baseball fans, head Bulldogs coach John Stuper recalls watching in August 2012 as one of his former stars, Craig Breslow ’02, pitched to another, catcher Ryan Lavarnway ’09. This wasn’t some Yale baseball… Read more...

The Jewish community celebrates its heritage NEW ORLEANS—Ask Malkie Rivkin and the volunteers who are preparing hundreds of mishloach manot food baskets at the Btesh Family Chabad House in New Orleans three days before Purim what makes the holiday unique in New Orleans, and they almost don’t… Read more...

Writer joins a Virgin Islands rabbi on his daily rounds of hotels, timeshares and cruise ships ST. THOMAS, V.I.—The questions, both halachic and practical, start early on this 32-square-mile island in the Caribbean Sea. Rabbi Asher Federman, director of Chabad Lubavitch of the Virgin Islands in… Read more...

Chabad’s online school for the families of its worldwide emissaries makes it possible to live and serve in far-flung communities without any Jewish day school. The happy boys danced, sang, cheered for their teachers and even jumped on tables when the head of school called their classroom by… Read more...

It is a common practice for middle- and high-school children to “do” community service. Through their work with people who are elderly, homeless or poor or who have disabilities, students learn empathy and compassion for those “less fortunate,” and they learn to better appreciate what they… Read more...

COPENHAGEN—Walk down the block-long Ole Suhrs Gade Street in Copenhagen—from the Botanical Gardens at one end to Sortedams Lake at the other—and there is a certain old-world charm. Neighbors engage in quiet conversation or sip coffee at corner cafes, with dozens of bicycles parked in racks… Read more...

Every November, the entire kosher food industry descends on the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, for two exhausting, invigorating days of Kosherfest, the central kosher food event of the year, which attracts 6,000 industry professionals. Caterers, distributors, chefs… Read more...

Did Team Israel think it could pull it off tonight and avenge the defeat in the 2012 qualifier final against Spain? BROOKLYN – The mood at MCU Park an hour before the first pitch of Sunday night’s World Baseball Classic Qualifier final was so relaxed one might not know it was the… Read more...

Mental coach Justine Siegal and IAB exec Margo Sugarman help blue-and-white contend in the World Baseball Classic. BROO KLYN – When Team Israel lines up along first-base side at the start of each World Baseball Classic Qualifier game, fans tend to notice the long hair of the player with the No…. Read more...

“We love you, Cat,” “Why did it take you so long?” shouted fans in the sold out, 2,800-seat Beacon Theater. The fans, mostly of the over-40 set, wore suits and jeans. The last time Cat Stevens’ “Peace Train” rolled through New York City, Yitzhak Rabin was Israel’s prime minister… Read more...

Fans draped in Israeli flags chanted “Let’s Go Israel!” How is a World Baseball Classic Qualifier game featuring Israel and Great Britain playing at MCU Park in Brooklyn different from a typical Major League Baseball game? Thursday night’s Israel vs Great Britain WBC game featured three… Read more...

Tennis players know all about love from the tennis scoring system. Wouldn’t it be nice if players also love Israel and spread that love around the world? This year’s US Open attracted more than 30,000 fans each day of the two-week tournament. And any time a Jewish or Israeli fan saw “ISR”… Read more...

Oliel, the tall, hard hitting left-hander with solid ground strokes and serve, showed the New York crowd how much potential he has. When the going gets tough, the coach stays calm. Even during a heart-breaking loss for Yshai Oliel in the junior boys’ doubles semifinals at the US Open, coach Jan… Read more...

After winning two matches in the qualifiers and coming through the first round of the main draw, the 17-year-old Israeli was stopped by No. 5 seed Kayla Day of the USA, losing 6-4, 6-3. Shelly Krolitzky’s dream run in New York came to an end on Wednesday in the second round of the junior… Read more...

Oliel next faces No. 13 seed Nicola Kuhn of Spain for a place in the quarterfinals. Yshai Oliel continued to show why he is touted as the future of Israeli tennis on Tuesday, advancing to the last 16 of the US Open Junior Boys’ tournament with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(2) victory over No. 2 seed Alex De… Read more...

By the time Yshai Oliel clawed his way back to 2-2 in the third set of the first-round match in the Junior Boys’ singles tournament at the US Open versus Juan Carlos Manuel Aguilar of Bolivia, court 14 felt and sounded like countryman Dudi Sela’s first-round US Open thriller. Oliel lost the… Read more...

Shelly Krolitzky, 17, is the first Israeli female in the main draw of the US Open junior tournament since Julia Glushko in 2007. As the massive US Open crowds shuffled in at on Friday morning for a coveted spot in Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand, a few dozen spectators gathered outside… Read more...

With the location of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, it is only natural that there are also many Jewish stories at the tournament. The final Grand Slam of 2016 is filled with all kinds of big and small stories – from Serena Williams’s quest for her… Read more...

At Camp Ramah, Israel is central. Dozens of Israeli shlichim (emissaries) “bring” Israel to our nine overnight camps and four day camps in North America each summer. And, for decades, campers have been participating in a variety of programs through Ramah Israel including Ramah Israel Seminar… Read more...

Israeli beaten in five sets by Cuevas; Djokovic, Nadal overcome wrist injuries to advance Dudi Sela was knocked out in the first round of a Grand Slam event for the fifth time in the past six tournaments on Monday, losing a five-set thriller to No. 18 seed Pablo Cuevas in the US Open in New York…. Read more...

Dudi Sela, the only Israeli player in the main draw, was practicing at the US Open on Friday with hitting partner, American Sam Querrey, ranked No. 32 in the world. When the US Open draw ceremony took place Friday morning at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New… Read more...

Max Newman was a beloved participant in the Tikvah Program for four summers. When Max approached age 18 and it was time to graduate Tikvah, director Rabbi Eliav Bock and Tikvah Program founder and Director, Elyssa Hammerman, decided to think creatively. They created a vocational training program… Read more...

It is rare that two of my favorite topics – tennis and Judaism – have much to teach each other. A few nights ago, as I watched the New York Empire battle the Washington Kastle on Opening Night of the World Team Tennis season at the legendary West Side Tennis club in Forest Hills, New York, I… Read more...

One of the most wonderful parts of my work is the chance to visit special needs programs at several of our Ramah camps. Last week I arrived at Rhinelander airport to rain and fog and was greeted by the warm smile of longtime friend and colleague, Ralph Schwartz, the Director of Special Needs… Read more...

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In a special new Sight Line feature, we look at four growing trends in the early childhood arena. Multi-generational Learning The average age is 92 at Mount St. Vincent, a retirement home in Seattle, yet the atmosphere is alive and vibrant. That’s because Mount. St. Vincent shares its building… Read more...

Kids today have more exposure and familiarity with all sorts of differences than their parents did. Not too long ago, it was the norm for children with any kind of special needs to be educated in separate programs and schools. Today children with disabilities — both visible and invisible — are… Read more...

Learn from Howard Blas, a respected thought leader in Jewish special education. We will discuss ways to better meet the needs of your learners. Our webinar will: Help you re-imagine the traditional approach to B’nai Mitzvah Introduce a range of B’nai Mitzvah options that meet individual needs… Read more...

Dear Diary: As a longtime alternate-side parker, I thought I had seen every trick imaginable. Here’s a new one: A man drives up close to a motorcycle, which is taking up an unnecessarily big parking space. He gets out of the car, which he leaves idling. The man approaches the motorcycle, turns it… Read more...

Janko Tipsarevic received a wild card and is making his tennis comeback following foot surgery and a 17 month absence from tennis. the tennis world gears up for the Miami Open (March 21-April 3), often considered the “Fifth Grand Slam,” on par with such tennis events as Wimbledon and the US… Read more...

In the Hebrew school of my youth, we took great pride in bringing a quarter each session to put in the blue and white JNF pushke. As Tu B’Shvat approached, we worked extra hard to raise money to plant trees in Israel. On our Hebrew high school trip to Israel, we took pride in actually planting… Read more...

Dozens of articles online and in print publications proudly and enthusiastically note that February is Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). JDAIM, marked by agencies and organizations throughout the Jewish world, is described as “a unified effort among Jewish organizations… Read more...

In a special guest post for Covenant Classroom, Covenant Award recipient and Director of the National Ramah Tikvah Network Howard Blas shares some of the latest and greatest creative and original educational programming from Israel and reminds us yet again how the land of our ancestors is truly… Read more...

Pe’er kicked off the action for Team Israel on Center Court in Saturday afternoon’s match against Ukraine’s Bondarenko. Israel will play in Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I for an eighth straight year in 2017 after losing 3-0 to Ukraine in Eilat on Saturday. A 2-1 win over Croatia on… Read more...

Israel faces Croatia in its final Pool C tie on Friday Israel enters Friday’s Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie against Croatia in Eilat still in contention to advance to the World Group II playoffs after defeating Estonia 3-0 on Thursday. After falling 2-1 to Turkey in its opening Pool C… Read more...

Israel got Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I action in Eilat off to a losing start on Wednesday, falling 2-1 to Turkey. Shahar Pe’er and Julia Glushko lost their singles matches to open the day before teaming up to win the doubles encounter. Israel will be back in action on Thursday when it… Read more...

Israel got Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I action in Eilat off to a losing start on Wednesday, falling 2-1 to Turkey. Shahar Pe’er and Julia Glushko lost their singles matches to open the day before teaming up to win the doubles encounter. Israel will be back in action on Thursday when it… Read more...

In 2016, 101 nations entered Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, making it the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport. Ofra Friedman, media relations manager, and her team at the Israel Tennis Association haven’t been sleeping much these days. They have been working day… Read more...

Eight brave young adults with disabilities from across the United States traveled to Israel over winter break as part of Ramah Israel Institute’s Tikvah Ramah Israel Trip. Most of this year’s travelers are current participants in or recent graduates of the various vocational training programs… Read more...

Every year, I approach Kosherfest with a healthy dose of both excitement and skepticism. How can there possibly be anything new in the world of kosher, I wonder? But there always is. And this year’s Kosherfest did not disappoint. Kosherfest 2015 – held in the Meadowlands Exposition Center in… Read more...

NEW YORK – By age four, Jason Fuchs was a TV addict. But unlike most kids, he didn’t want to just sit in front of the boob tube, he wanted to be on it. “My parents would call out to me while I was watching, and I didn’t respond to anything. I remember pointing to the TV and saying, “I want to be… Read more...

For most tennis fans, the highlight of the 2015 U.S. Open was the anticipation and excitement around Serena Williams possibly winning the Grand Slam – all four major titles in a calendar year – for the first time since Stefi Graf accomplished this feat in 1988. For me, the highlight occurred on… Read more...

NEW YORK — Sports fanatic Jeremy Posner and his wife Rabbi Paulette Posner have one rule for their three boys when going to a baseball game: “You can’t eat your hot dogs until you finish your ice cream.” Just because the Posners keep kosher — adhering to the Jewish… Read more...

For fans hoping to see Israelis in action at the U.S. Open tennis tournament this year, the key was to show up a week early. Three of the five Israelis hoping to compete in the main draw were out before the tournament even started. Shahar Peer, Julia Glushko and Amir Weintraub competed in the US… Read more...

Many people come each summer to see Tikvah in action – prospective parents, funders, educators, former staff members and friends who want to share a talent or skill. This summer, we have been blessed with three visitors who came to teach. Chef Paula Shoyer comes each year to share cooking and… Read more...

When the Tikvah Program for campers with disabilities was started in 1970 at Camp Ramah in New England, no one imagined a day when people with disabilities would be meaningfully included in Jewish camping. Now, 45 years later, every Ramah camp in the United States and Canada serves people with… Read more...

The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, home of the US Open, where more than 700,000 tennis fans will watch the top men’s and women’s players from around the world compete for a staggering $42,253,400 in prize money seems a very unlikely place for High… Read more...

Everyone at Camp Ramah in New England calls the elderly Israeli man in charge of our nagarut (woodworking) department “Ron Im HaZakan,” Ron with the Beard. Ron has a long gray beard and has been coming to camp for many years. “Where is David this year?” Ron asks me in Hebrew… Read more...

We have been blessed with many visitors to our Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England. Many visitors are educators and professionals in the field of disabilities and inclusion. They came from various communities and represented many denominations. Many came to observe Tikvah in action and to… Read more...

On Sunday August 9th at approximately 4 pm, a group of Camp Ramah in New England Niv14 campers landed in New York after six amazing weeks on Ramah Israel Seminar. As these young men and women were enroute to their homes and were beginning to think ahead to Seminar Day in Palmer on Tuesday August… Read more...

CHICAGO (JTA) — What a long, strange trip it’s been for Shu Eliovson. The American-born resident of Kfar Maimon, a religious moshav in southern Israel, Eliovson is CEO and co-founder of the tech start-up Likeminder, an anonymous social networking site for “authentic… Read more...

Many years ago, I was giving bar mitzvah lessons to Jesse, a very intelligent young man with learning differences. When he heard that I would soon begin teaching one of his classmates, as well, he told me, “You will need to teach Jon differently than you teach me. I am good with transliterating the… Read more...

After three years, the camp director has finally trained the 800 campers to “quiet down” in the chadar ochel (dining room) when he puts his hand in the air. One day, a young man with Down Syndrome grabs the microphone from the director and starts singing a version of “Shalom… Read more...

(JTA) — Can Yishai Oliel become Israel’s version of tennis champion Novak Djokovic? London businessman David Coffer is hoping the Ramle teenager can someday join such heady company — and he’s backing up his dream with the funding to groom the hard-hitting lefty for… Read more...

On a recent visit to a Pikud HaOref, Home Front Command base in Ramle, 14 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, a soldier tells me a very animated story about his role in Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s military operation in Gaza: “My job was to copy the papers for our soldiers to drop… Read more...

There is an unwritten rule that sports reporters simply do not root for a sports team or player while covering an event. Admittedly, this is difficult. A life-long Bostonian covering the Super Bowl February 1st in Glendale, Arizona may have a difficult time sitting poker-faced as Tom Brady and the… Read more...

Recently, I participated in a webinar entitled “Inclusion and Sensitivity.” It was impressive not only for the content but for the fact that it was a collaborative effort of the Conservative Movement’s Ramah Service Corps and the Union for Reform Judaism’s (URJ) Camps. The coordinators of both… Read more...

On Nov. 11 and 12, 340 companies filled 400 booths in the 80,000-square-foot exhibition hall in the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, N.J. – all part of the 26th annual Kosherfest, the trade show of the kosher food industry. Kosher is big business. The number of Americans who are… Read more...

Two years ago, a delegation of Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) and Jewish Funders Network (JFN) members visited eight Jewish summer camps in the Northeast in three days. Despite their different locations (from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts), sizes, and movement affiliations, the camps had one… Read more...

SUNRISE, Fla. (JTA) – It wasn’t Tel Aviv, but thousands of people chanting his name at a Davis Cup match following a grueling victory was a pretty good way for Israel’s Andy Ram to leave the game of tennis to which he had devoted more than half his life. Ram, 34, and his… Read more...

Film screened at UK House of Commons show how a Jewish and a black player broke through the color barrier — and anti-Semitism — on the tennis court Although Angela Buxton applied for membership in the All England Lawn Tennis Club in August 1958, she is still awaiting a reply. Given… Read more...

As the Ledger went to press, the U.S. Open tennis tournament was in full swing at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. This year’s Open, which kicked off on August 25 and comes to a close on Sept. 8, features a number of Jewish players from around the… Read more...

Dudi Sela updates on team composition and morale following his first round US Open win NEW YORK — Fans of Israel tennis gathered yesterday at the US Open to watch Israelis in action in back to back matches on court 13. Shahar Peer lost in three tough sets to Croation Mirjana Lucic-Baroni… Read more...

After a benefit game with No. 1 ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic, Noah Rubin is ready for tourney — and college NEW YORK — Serbian Novak Djokovic, the top ranked tennis player in the world, turned to the crowd at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy on Randall’s Island in New York… Read more...

As a teacher of Jewish Studies and b’nai mitzvah training children with a wide range of disabilities, and as a long time director of a disabilities program which is part of an 800+ camper Jewish overnight camp, I am immersed in the Jewish disabilities world and am part of dozens of year… Read more...

Former members of elite IDF units frustrated by toasting marshmallows while cohort called up to Operation Protective Edge PALMER, Massachusetts — At Camp Ramah in New England this weekend, Israeli emissary Yakov described feeling very far away from what’s happening in Israel while… Read more...

For Jerusalem resident Moshe Rosenbaum it is hard to believe that his Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor father, Pinchas, would have been 90 this year. He died 33 years ago – and, like many survivors, he did not share all of the details of his Holocaust experience. Fortunately, however, he… Read more...

Optimistic of a full recovery, the second Israeli in the league joins a record-breaking 92 international players from 39 countries NEW YORK — On a recent Monday evening, New York City’s Madison Square Garden was rocking. The sellout crowd of 19,812 at the newly renovated Manhattan… Read more...

Several weeks ago, Hartford Courant commentator Colin McEnroe summed up the imminent demise of West Hartford’s Crown Supermarket in a brief Courant blog post entitled, “Nooooooo.” “The Crown is not just food. It’s culture,” he observed. Of course, much to the… Read more...

A few weeks back, an article by Dan Blas, entitled, “A Jew in China” appeared in this column (Dec. 14, 2013). Dan learned his article had been published via the Google alert he received on his iPhone as we settled into our hotel room in Shanghai. I am one lucky dad. When your son asks… Read more...

On a recent ten-day Tikvah Ramah Israel trip, twelve participants with disabilities, ages 18-40, were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime visit to a 1,000-soldier army base. Admittedly, other tour groups visit army bases; our group spent three hours at the MAZI/Bar-Lev base near Kiryat Milachi, where… Read more...

Survivors, liberators, diplomats and March of the Living alum gather for remembrance event Neshama Carlebach and Eli Rubenstein remember exactly where they were standing in 1998 when Judy Weissenberg Cohen uttered a moving address to a large group of teenagers from Canada attending the 11th March… Read more...

Jewish boxer Boyd Melson is going eight rounds for Team Fight to Walk on Wednesday in NY to help those with spinal injuries For Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson, life at the United States Military Academy at West Point was not easy. West Point demands physical and academic discipline, and even… Read more...

SECAUCUS, N.J. – This year, even the ticket agent in Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Terminal knew about Kosherfest – and that the 320 bus, leaving from gate 231, takes visitors to the annual kosher food trade show at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, N.J. Attendees… Read more...

Major League Baseball veteran’s gig as coach in the Holy Land last year is one of the more important lines on his resume BALTIMORE – Almost from the moment they met him, several officials and players with Israel’s national baseball team said they saw manager Brad Ausmus headed… Read more...

PALMER, Mass. — Each summer, Camp Ramah in New England (CRNE) brings close to 60 post-army emissaries to serve as bunk counselors and teach in such specialty areas as dance, sports, swimming, nature, woodworking, Hebrew and Jewish Studies, ropes and krav maga. Campers and staff are… Read more...

Most people at camp recognize David Dalnekoff as the hard-working, good-natured man who delivers the mail each day. This past Shabbat, David was honored by his synagogue, the Westville Shul in New Haven, Connecticut, with a Kiddush lunch in his honor, as he celebrated his 40th birthday. I was… Read more...

In many ways, it was just another awesome day at the U.S. Open. Leander Paes and his partner won the mens’ doubles final; Serena Williams, won the womens’ championship; a boy from Croatia became the junior singles champion, while a 15-year-old with the first name… Read more...

‘Doesn’t matter for me if I am Jewish or not. But I am not,’ tennis champ tells the Times of Israel, quashing speculation over a converse heritage NEW YORK — Fans gathered Thursday evening at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York… Read more...

With a cadre of middle-aged Jewish male fans, feisty Sharon Fichman is hopeful for her upcoming women’s doubles match FLUSHING MEADOWS, New York — On the court at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, 22-year-old Canadian Sharon Fichman is a hard-hitting, feisty, grunting right-handed… Read more...

FLUSHING, New York – A handful of Israeli players fought for the chance to qualify for the prestigious U.S Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, which began plan on August 26 and will wrap up on Sept. 9. The U.S. Open is the world’s highest attending sporting event, with more than… Read more...

World ranked 224, Israel’s Amir Weintraub ekes out a living playing World Team Tennis as a Boston Lobster. It helps pay the bills in the sport he loves BOSTON — Call it “tennis light,” “family-friendly tennis,” or perhaps, most importantly for players like… Read more...

The month leading up to the camp season is action-packed, a bit stressful and most of all—exciting. In less than a month, hundreds of campers with a range of disabilities will arrive at Jewish summer camps across North America. While the off-season is similarly busy with hiring staff… Read more...

Parade part of day-long festivities celebrating Israel-US ties More than a million New Yorkers came out Sunday to show support for Israel by attending the city’s annual Celebrate Israel Parade. Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the route of the parade along Fifth Avenue, drowning… Read more...

NEW JERSEY – From Pierre Mevy Azaria’s calm demeanor as we sipped cappuccino in the lobby of his New Jersey hotel on Thursday, you would never guess that he is ultimately responsible for every aspect of the Israel versus Honduras soccer exhibition at New York’s Citi Field on… Read more...

Jewish state’s elite squad is relaxed, ready and eager for Sunday’s exhibition game against Honduras NEW JERSEY — The Israel national soccer team touched down at Newark Airport at 5:30 Thursday morning. By 9am, the freshly showered guys were lounging on the white leather… Read more...

An enthusiastic group of 72 bike riders and hikers, ages 13-73, arrived in Eilat on April 30 after biking since April 24 all the way from Jerusalem. They made the trip — the Ramah Israel Challenge — to support special needs programs at Ramah camps in the United States and Canada. Meaningful… Read more...

Members of a Birthright group talk about the joys of seeing the country with people just like themselves More than 20,000 Birthright participants will have spent 10 days in Israel by the end of the 2012-2013 winter season, including 20 participants with Asperger’s Syndrome, now known as the… Read more...

Annual convention shows the kosher and calorie-minded food industries are each taking a page from the other’s cookbook SECAUCUS, N.J. – When Scott Gantwerker and Wayne Silverman were roommates 40 years ago at Michigan State University, they regularly made granola. “Then came… Read more...

When Shelley Cohen and Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi returned to their bus after their tour of Camp Ramah in New England, they knew they had to bring the issue of inclusion of people with disabilities to a much larger audience. They had just participated in a three-day bus tour for funders of summer… Read more...

NEW HAVEN – Even before Adam Greenberg made headlines a couple of weeks ago by signing a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins and swinging his bat as a one-day-only Major League Baseball player, the Guilford native was making the Connecticut Jewish community proud by stepping up to the… Read more...

Music fans of a certain age and generation recognize the name Jorma Kaukonen as a founding member of the classic rock groups, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Few realize, however, that the 71-year old guitarist is Jewish — with deep family ties to the Ellington Jewish community. Jorma… Read more...

Though baseball is a ‘Jewish sport,’ its roots in Israel are still taking hold. Team Israel is taking to the baseball diamond this week in South Florida in a bid to participate in the March 2013 World Baseball Classic. How did the blue and white players get there, and what are their… Read more...

Israeli counselors share their experiences serving at a Conservative Movement summer camp. For a special group of Israelis, serving their country continues after their army service ends – in North America. A diverse group of Israeli twenty somethings representing different cities and towns… Read more...

Despite a first-round loss at the US Open, up-and-comer Julia Glushko says she’s proud to represent her adopted country — and looks forward to better results in the future For many of the women in the main draw of the US Open, the path to the two-week tournament was straightforward…. Read more...

As his new album debuts, the renegade religious rapper tells The Times of Israel why he drastically changed his lifestyle Sitting backstage at Matisyahu’s concert in Stamford, Connecticut five days before the July 17 release of his new album, “Spark Seeker,” his father Bob… Read more...

Our Tikvah participants joined the whole camp for a trip to Six Flags. Every year, I wonder if this is the best use of our time. It is a fun day, but it is very taxing. We assess the campers and their needs (Which rides? How much supervision? Water park?) and we assign two or three staff members to… Read more...

Book review: “Esau’s Blessing: How the Bible Embraces those with Special Needs” by Ora Horn Prouser, Ben Yehuda Press, 2011 Teaneck, New Jersey. Reviewed by Howard Blas. All rabbis and educators have incorporated the story of Moses and his speech difficulties (aral sfataym) into divrei torah and… Read more...

Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music, running in Amherst, focuses on klezmer tradition — and innovation Woodstock 1969, meet Yidstock 2012. Back in the day, the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in Bethel, New York, may have featured such acts as Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and the… Read more...

Nadine Fahoum, a Muslim from Haifa, has become Israel’s unofficial ambassador off the court, and a phenom for Duke on it For Nadine Fahoum, serving as an ambassador for Israeli tennis and the State of Israel is a pleasure — though anything but straightforward. The 22-year-old Muslim… Read more...

Walking out of the Bruce Springsteen concert in Philadelphia last week, I heard a yalmuke-wearing teenager exclaim, “If Bruce Springsteen was a rabbi, I’d go to his shul [synagogue]!” The 62-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee had just delivered a three-hour… Read more...

When photographer, Anna Shteynshleyger, was a little girl growing up in Moscow in the late 1970s and early 80s, she never imagined the life that would await her in a quiet suburb of Washington, D.C. Looking back, Shteynshleyger playfully and painfully recalls her arrival to Gaithersburg in… Read more...

A religious woman with two wigs, a shriveled etrog in an etrog holder and an unhappy expecting couple sitting on a futon are but three of the riveting photos which greet the viewer of “City of Destiny,” an exhibit of the works of photographer Anna Shteynshleyger, a graduate of Yale… Read more...

Jordan Farmar is carefully moving around the court, shooting three pointers and free throws. This is despite a groin injury, which has kept him out of the New Jersey Nets lineup for four straight games. It was only a week ago that Farmar’s three-point last-minute score led the Nets to… Read more...

Flat Stanley is the beloved “flat” character from the 1964 children’s book of the same title, written by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer. Every teacher and parent of young children know the story of Stanley Lambchop, who gets “flattened” in his sleep when a… Read more...

Omri Casspi on meeting up with Gilad Shalit, what it’s like to wear number 36, and life as the only Israeli playing in the NBA NEW YORK — Basketball player Omri Casspi achieved overnight rock star status in 2009 when he was drafted 23rd overall in the first round by the NBA’s… Read more...

“What’s the frummest book you sell here?” the customer asks Adam, the gregarious bookseller. “Do you sell Judaism for Dummies? asks a man, not appreciating the irony–he was asking hovering over books, just under the sign indicating he was in the “Scholarly… Read more...

STAMFORD — Long after leaving public office, Senator Joseph Lieberman, will be remembered for his many accomplishments. Now, thanks to It’s Kosh, a new kosher American bistro at 108 Prospect Street in Stamford, Connecticut’s senior senator can add to the list the… Read more...

Three teens succeeded in turning the month of February into a month of awareness. Hold the hamburgers—it’s February. The month of February has become “Veguary” for hundreds of people around the world. A combination of the words vegetarian and February, Veguary describes a… Read more...

A D’’ash exclusive with singers Idan Raichel and India Arie. For the past 10 years, Idan Raichel has been one of Israel’s most popular, unique and beloved musicians. Unlike most band leaders who stand at the center of the stage, Idan, with his long dreadlocks, thick hair band… Read more...

In many ways, she is a typical Israeli teenager — she wears nail polish on her fingers (pink) and toes (blue), listens to Rihanna, and has an active Facebook life. Her friends write comments like, “Miss you—when are you coming back to school?” Valeria Patiuk misses them… Read more...

The annual Kosherfest trade show in New Jersey earlier this month offered a dizzying display of the newest innovations with a stamp of approval Adam Mintz is the rabbi of the Modern Orthodox Congregation Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and has served as a professor of… Read more...

SECAUCUS, N.J. – Warren Webber has enjoyed his long career in the electronics business. But nine years ago, he decided to venture into the relish business. “It started as a joke,” the gregarious West Hartford resident told the Ledger from his Warren’s Foods booth at… Read more...

Dan Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of quasicrystals, a discovery that initially made him the laughingstock of the scientific world. “The stone that the builders despised has become the cornerstone” – Psalms 118:22 People laughed at him. His colleagues publicly… Read more...

This unique Tel Aviv restaurant is committed to helping kids at risk turn their lives around. Israeli restaurants are often known for their delicious hummus, mouth-watering kebabs, and colorful Israeli salads. One Tel Aviv restaurant, however, is also known for its unique staff. That’s… Read more...

Gershony, is the third ranked quads singles player in the world and 9th ranked doubles player. NEW YORK – Israeli tennis players competed in male and female singles and doubles events in this years recently completed US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New… Read more...

Currently ranked 708 in the world for singles and 848 for doubles, Valeria Patiuk is the youngest player on Israel’s Fed Cup team. NEW YORK – It is hard to resist the comparisons between Valeria Patiuk and her idol, Shahar Pe’er. Both are hard-hitting tennis players who grew up… Read more...

This month, members of Camp Ramah in New England’s Tikvah Program returned to their home communities in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Florida and California. Unlike their neurotypical peers who have year-round opportunities to participate in… Read more...

The story of Israel’s first Jewish-Arab tennis team at the Special Olympics Four special Israeli athletes are true champions of tennis and coexistence. Two Israeli Jews and two Israeli Arabs represented Israel at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece. This is the… Read more...

The Ramah Galil Bike Ride, a five-day, 250 mile ride through Israel’s Golan Heights and Galilee, was a dream come true—a way to combine my love of biking, Israel, and special needs camping. From May 16-23, forty riders from the United States, Canada, and Israel biked more than fifty… Read more...

Checking out great new digital talent in Jerusalem The new animated film Rango stars the voice of Johnny Depp and follows the life, adventures and struggles of an aspiring hero in the form of a pet chameleon (Rango) as he becomes local sheriff in the Old West town of Dirt. When the movie is over… Read more...

The first annual Jerusalem Marathon later this month will provide spectacular views of 5,000+ years of history for spectators and competitors alike. All competitors, that is, except for Richard Bernstein, a blind attorney from Detroit, Michigan. Bernstein, 37, does not allow his lifelong lack of… Read more...

In Azeem Kayum’s moving book, Wrestling with the Goddess, his mom writes, “Azeem does not want your sympathy. He wants your friendship. He wants to be accepted for who he is. I want all of you to realize that any one of you can be hit by a car today and become disabled. Would you like… Read more...

Is Israel behind the worm that is wreaking havoc on Iran’s nuclear program? It is 2:00am and the room is dark, lit only by the screen of his laptop. While the rest of the city sleeps, he is wide awake, programming. It’s a test of skill, a quest for power. He wants to see if he can do it… Read more...

Camp Ramah has been serving campers with special needs for over forty years. These include Ramah camps in Massachusetts, Canada, Wisconsin, New York, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois, which offer programs for campers with a range of special needs. Some offer overnight camping… Read more...

SECAUCUS, N.J. - In his keynote presentation entitled, “State of the Kosher Industry: The Transition of Kosher Foods to a New Level,” Menachem Lubinsky, President and CEO of LUBICOM Marketing Consulting, pointed out just how far the kosher food industry has come. “In the early years, there were… Read more...

Disabilities: What the Ancient Rabbis knew At a pre-season retreat, twenty senior staff members of Camp Ramah in New England spent a weekend discussing the educational theme for the upcoming summer—the biblical concept of betzelem elohim —the idea that everyone is created in the… Read more...

Aaron Rudolph’s drive to work from his home in West Hartford to the Walgreen’s Distribution Center in Windsor is usually uneventful. Having special needs and landing a meaningful job often poses more of a challenge. Rudolph is one of the lucky ones. A story in the Hartford Courant five years ago… Read more...

Israelis Gony Goldstein, Raz Moyal and Dana Kamyshev recently enjoyed a week-long United States tennis adventure. The three young tennis players, representing Israel Children’s Centers, were invited to the United States to play in tennis exhibitions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in various… Read more...

Becoming a Bat Mitzvah has the potential to be affirming, celebratory, and a wonderful welcome into the Jewish community as a whole and into the community of Jewish women in particular. Yet, planning a Bat Mitzvah can be confusing and stressful, given the various practices accepted and the options… Read more...

On a sunny Sunday this past June, world No. 17 Shahar Pe’er joined mayor of Akko and other dignitaries to celebrate opening of coastal city’s new Israel Tennis Center. On a sunny Sunday this past June, world No. 17 Shahar Pe’er joined the mayor of Akko and other dignitaries to… Read more...

Turn the conversation to the upcoming Davis Cup World Group Playoffs and the tennis champs’ eyes light up. NEW YORK – Ask Andy Ram and Dudi Sela about their tennis successes these past few weeks, and they don’t have much to say. Photo by: AP However, turn the conversation to the… Read more...

Watching Shahar Pe’er at US Open is a dream come true for the youngsters. NEW YORK – For Gony Goldstein, Raz Moyal, and Dana Kamyshev, cheering for Shahar Pe’er on Court Four at her first-round US Open match was only one highlight of their week-long America tennis adventure. Photo by:… Read more...

With the exception of King David, Samson and members of the Israel Defense Forces, Jews have not historically been viewed as great fighters. Enter Yuri Foreman - a Russian-born, Israeli boxer who is also studying to become an Orthodox rabbi! The 29-year-old professional Jewish boxer recently spent… Read more...

WESTPORT - Most school children have completed the required family tree and family history project. The project typically involves interviewing relatives, writing a paper, and making an oral presentation, accompanied by old photos and documents. But a second career for Westville senior Stanley… Read more...

Helping to give special needs kids a fun summer By Cindy Mindell For several years, the New England Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs has raised money to support the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England, one of the first summer programs for Jewish campers with special needs…. Read more...

Our American correspondent goes one on one with Israel’s first NBA player “He’s a rock star!” Sacramento Kings assistant coach Mario Elie said as he watched from the side of the court at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden. Rookie Omri Casspi smiled as he… Read more...

Summer camp - both day camps and overnight camps - offer opportunities for children to learn new skills, form friendships, experiment with new interests, and learn new things about themselves. Children with intellectual disabilities are increasingly participating in these programs. But truly… Read more...

This has been a very exciting “off season” for the Tikvah Program — with the magic of our community continuing, even if we can’t be at camp. As many of you know, I am one of fourteen Jewish educators from across the country selected to join the first cohort of Jim Joseph Foundation Fellows (JJFF)…. Read more...

Matisyahu beats and breaks across the stages of the world with his long beard and ritual fringes flapping. His music can best be described as a cross between reggae, Rasta Roots, rap, rock, beat boxing, dub and Hasidic nigunim which are sung in English, sprinkled with bits of Hebrew and Yiddish… Read more...

The New York Knicks hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv at Madison Square Garden. The game helped raise funds to keep the Tower of Light shining bright for children in need. Sport brings the world together. Whether it is the Olympic Games, the World Cup or even just a group of friends watching “the… Read more...

Last month we brought you Shahar Pe’er. This month, the spotlight is on Dudi Sela, Israel’s leading male tennis champion. Dudi Sela began playing tennis at age seven at the Israel Tennis Centre in Kiryat Shmoneh, which is in the north of Israel. He remembers spending time as a boy in… Read more...

The US was awash with tennis champions during the US Open and the many lead-up competitions that preceded it. D”ash American correspondent Howard Blas had the opportunity to catch up with two of Israel’s leading tennis players, Shahar Pe’er and Dudi Sela during the competition…. Read more...

Ari Zivitovsky is a little like an ancient explorer. The scientist rabbi travels the world looking for different kosher animals. Zivitovsky has come head to head with grasshoppers, guinea fowl, buffalo—even giraffes! Zivitovsky and his childhood friend, Rabbi Ari Greenspan, are both… Read more...

Ari Zivitovsky is a little like Indiana Jones. But the scientist rabbi is not in search of The Ark of the Covenant; instead, he travels the world looking for kosher animals. Zivitovsky and his partner, Rabbi Ari Greenspan, have come head to head with some incredible and exotic creatures, some of… Read more...

Freelance writer Howard Blas reports on the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournie in New Haven - from a Jewish perspective. The tournament was still in full swing as the Ledger went to press. Ezra Academy makes a night of it Ezra Academy of Woodbridge joined thousands of fans at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament… Read more...

Doron Ben-Atar is difficult to place in a neat category. The former Macabi Tel Aviv basketball player was born in Israel, chairs the history department at Fordham University in New York, is a member of the school’s Middle East Studies and Women’s Studies programs and is working on his third play…. Read more...

New play addresses demonization of Israel among intellectual elite NEW HAVEN — Professor Doron Ben-Atar’s play, “Peace Warriors,” which he co-wrote with Debbie Pollak, will be performed at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C. in July and at the New York International Fringe Festival in… Read more...

Howard Blas is a social worker and special educator who primarily teaches students with special needs and circumstances in Jewish Studies and for bar and bat mitzvah. He is Director of the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England. Howard’s work has appeared in publications such as The Jerusalem… Read more...

Photo courtesy of Ken Turkewitz, New England Region Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, Tour-de-Shuls Chair 2009 Riders and supporters from Camp Ramah gather at last years race. NEEDHAM — Over two years ago on a Sunday afternoon, Stephen Baum found himself heading south on his weekly bike… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Dr. Ruth Westheimer shared her experience as part of the Holocaust’s Kindertransport at “Orphans of the Holocaust,” the opening event of the Yom Hashoah-Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at Yale University’s Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life. Westheimer is co-teaching a… Read more...

Israeli students are more preoccupied than American students, says visiting Wesleyan prof. MIDDLETOWN — Ori Sivan is the head writer and co-creator of “BeTipul” - “In Treatment” - an award winning, five-night a week Israeli television program about therapist Reuven Dagan, his patients, and his… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Dr. Baruch J. Schwartz, native of Philadelphia and long-time resident of Efrat, Israel, is spending the academic year at Yale University as the Jacob Perlow Visiting Associate Professor in Judaic Studies. In the fall semester, Schwartz taught a seminar entitled “Worship in Ancient… Read more...

RIDGEFIELD — The Idan Raichel Project, one of Israel’s most unique and popular musical groups, kicks off its 2009 World Tour with a March 22 appearance at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield. The “Project” is so much more than its namesake, the dreadlocked, 31-year old keyboardist, composer… Read more...

It is always difficult to pinpoint the highlight of any visit to Israel. For ten Tikvah Program participants and alumni, who participated with Tikvah Director Howard Blas and two madrichim on a recent ten-day Tikvah Ramah Israel Program, all would likely agree that seeing camp friends ranks near… Read more...

While no Connecticut companies had booths at Kosherfest 2008, there were several people in attendance with strong Connecticut connections. Barbara Hodes, who with her husband, Andrew, is the owner of Judaica of New Haven, was scouting out potential merchandise for her Judaica shop. A Kosherfest… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — The Jewish Community School of New Haven (JCS) is moving ahead rapidly with plans to open its doors in Sept. 2009. Founded by Rachel Light and Rebecca Silvera Sasson, the trans-denominational day school will offer a pluralistic Jewish envionment for children in kindergarten through… Read more...

SECAUCUS, NJ — Thousands of buyers, retailers and other food professionals attended the two-day Kosherfest 2008 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, N.J., showcasing products from 28 countries. In addition to 250 exhibitors and hundreds of new products, Kosherfest also included a… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — For New Haven residents Dov and Nechama Langenauer, this Israel trip will be different from all previous trips Dov will be viewing Israel from his bike, and Nechama will be supporting riders on the Wheels of Love International Alyn Charity Bike Ride. The ride will take place November 9… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — For two Jewish tennis players, New Haven is a great place to stop by on the road to the U.S. Open. American Jesse Levine, the 106th ranked mens player in the world, and Israeli Dudi Sela, ranked 75, spent last week at the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament at Yales Connecticut Tennis Center… Read more...

Every Jewish man remembers his bar mitzvah. Some even remember parts of their haftarah. Rarely does this ‘feat’ get them anywhere in life. Not the case for New York’s NBC TV sports anchor and reporter, Bruce Beck. Bruce grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, 25 miles southwest of Manhattan. Following… Read more...

PALMER, MA — Finding a four course gourmet kosher meal in Palmer, Mass. is nearly impossible — unless Chef Paula Shoyer is in town. This summer, Chef Shoyer has returned to Camp Ramah in New England where she teaches a “select” group of campers about healthy, mouth-watering, kosher… Read more...

It started with a late-night call from DeeDee Benel, my son’s faculty adviser at Manhattan’s Ramaz High School, a private Orthodox Jewish prep school on the Upper East Side. “Everything is OK with Daniel,” she reassured my wife and then began telling her about the birth of her grandson in Denver… Read more...

MIDDLETOWN — For seven special nights this semester, Wesleyan University will seem more like artsy Tel Aviv than a college town in Connecticut. Thanks to the tireless work of Professor Dalit Katz and the Ring Family, Wesleyan will screen seven cutting-edge, contemporary Israeli films as part of… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — When Debbie Roth wanted to make Shakespeare come alive for her eighth grade English class at Ezra Academy in Woodbridge, she had a clever idea: Why not bring in a real actor who has performed Shakespeare on the stage? And so she did - enlisting the aid of Bruce Altman, a veteran actor… Read more...

Street Magazine article - “William Steig: The Father of Shrek” Read more...

Snap Magazine article - “Will’s Art” Read more...

Zone Magazine article - “Are you on Facebook?” Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — Dr. Barry Zaret of Woodbridge is as passionate about his oils on canvas as he is about his cardiology research, teaching and clinical practice. Zaret’s work is the subject of a soon to open exhibit, “Prague Paintings and Other New Works,” at the Westville Gallery jn New Haven. The… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Connecticut has an illustrious history of hosting visiting Israeli professors on sabbatical.  Over the years, Israeli professors have come from Bar Ilan University, Hebrew University, Ben Gurion University, The Schechter Institute and other esteemed Israeli institutions to teach… Read more...

The eyes of the world are on the Boston Red Sox who are currently playing in baseball’s World Series against the Colorado Rockies. Star first baseman Kevin Youkilis was the subject of an amusing exchange last season between comedians Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke and the Red Sox announcers - all in… Read more...

CHESTER — Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg is Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedeks spiritual leader, activist, and cheerleader/publicity director all rolled into one. What attracted me was the people, reports Goldenberg. They are wonderful, creative people who participate with gusto. The spirit of the… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, new assistant rabbi at Yale Universitys Slifka Center, has quickly fallen in love with her job and the Yale community. One of the great things about Jewish life at Yale is that you dont have to define yourself here, she notes. There are people who are… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Yehuda Amichai lived most of his life in Israel until his death in 2000. Now, the famous Israeli poet lives on at Yale University. Amichais extensive personal papers and literary archive are the first of a major writer in Hebrew to be added to Yales Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript… Read more...

A kosher lobster has been spotted in Boston this summer. And it is the Israeli variety. Israeli tennis player Amir Hadad is one of five players on the co-ed Boston Lobsters World Team Tennis (WTT) team. World Team Tennis, co-founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, features 11 teams from across the… Read more...

Every August, Chris Gaudreau, who owns the Racquet Koop here, and four employees set up shop in a trailer and spend up to 17 hours a day stringing about 500 tennis rackets during the nine-day Pilot Pen tournament. The Pilot Pen, beginning this weekend at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale… Read more...

Thirty-eight years ago, many people worried that having campers with special needs in a normal Jewish summer camp would be a disaster. Would those campers bring down the level of Hebrew and Jewish knowledge? Would the speciality staff know how to work with them? Would the regular campers not return… Read more...

MILFORD/STRATFORD — In two nearby towns, two synagogues plus two rabbis, plus curious young children, equals Yachad, a newly combined religious school. Congregation Sinai of Milford and Temple Beth Sholom of Stratford have joined together to create Yachad, which in Hebrew means together. Yachad is… Read more...

MADISON — For 47 special Israeli children, Madison, Connecticut is truly a second home. For the fourth year in a row, Camp Laurelwood has again welcomed children of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers killed during their military service. Twenty-eight boys, 19 girls, and seven volunteer madrichim… Read more...

Dear Diary, The Metro-North New Haven train was packed with Yankee and Red Sox fans, en route to Game 3 of the opening Yanks/Sox series. As the train neared the 125th Street Station, the conductor, instead of saying, “Harlem 125th Street next,” said, “Have fun at the game, folks.” He paused and… Read more...

FAIRFIELD — Banking or baseball? Nathan Mittag of Fairfield nearly had to make that choice — between a job offer with a Manhattan investment bank and an offer to play baseball with the Raanana Express of the newly formed Israel Baseball League. Mittag, a recent graduate with honors from Bucknell… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Rabbi Daniel Greer searched high and low for the perfect Ner Tamid for his Yeshiva of New Haven synagogue. The Ner Tamid (eternal light), which hangs in every synagogue in the world, is a symbolic reminder of the menorah which burned continuously in the inner sanctuary of the Holy… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — While kosher consumers are enjoying a slice of pizza, a few Oreos or some kosher wine from Australia, “mashgichim” (kosher supervisors) around the globe are checking, blow-torching, and “toveling” (koshering utensils) in the mikvah. In China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, the Star… Read more...

Specialized summer camp programs for disabled children began to emerge in the late 19th century and expanded in the 1930’s and 40’s [1]. Although it is not known when integration of children with developmental disabilities into “regular” camps began, it is likely to have been pioneered in camps… Read more...

The Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England, now celebrating its 37th year, continues to grow and evolve, offering the Ramah experience to people of many ages with a wide range of special needs. Last summer, we initiated a program to hire post-voc eders graduates of our Tikvah Program as… Read more...

WEST HAVEN — Congregation Sinai, located in West Haven since 1929, recently sold their 78-year-old building in West Haven, and started construction of their new Milford synagogue space, located on the second floor of an existing commercial building at 55 Old Gate Lane. Rabbi Dana Bogatz, who grew… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — When Professor Doron Ben-Atar was growing up in Israel, his mother, Roma Nutkiewicz Ben-Atar, seldom spoke of her Holocaust experiences. When she did start speaking - “some time after the Six-Day War,” reports Professor Ben-Atar — her incredible story filled an entire book, “What Time… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Dr. Andres Martin, associate professor of child psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and medical director of the Children’s Psychiatric Inpatient Service at Yale-New Haven Hospital, credits his mentor, the late Dr. Donald Cohen, with his own decision to become a child… Read more...

"V” Vegetarian Sandwich Bar 1259 Park Avenue (between 97th and 98th), New York, NY 10029 Tel: (212) 360-7185 Open daily 7am (8am Sundays) - 10pm, Fridays till 2pm, closed Shabbat Kosher/Cholov Yisroel Depending on your perspective, Manhattan’s new “V” Vegetarian Sandwich Bar is either between the… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Thanks to the construction of a new eruv (fence), life just got better for Jews at Yale. The eruv, which is attached to the eruv which already serves Westville and several other New Haven neighborhoods, will enable Sabbath observers on the Yale undergraduate and graduate campuses and… Read more...

Sundays may never be the same for Florence Katz or Andy Bedford — unless Rabbi Yossi Hodakov of New Haven finds another station to host his weekly radio program. Rabbi Hodakov’s Jewish Radio Hour, broadcast on WYBC AM for four years on Sunday mornings from 10am to 11 a.m, has come to an end…. Read more...

You need a beautiful, up-scale kosher gift basket. What are your options? You can do-it-yourself, purchase a standard gift basket and hope there are enough kosher items to satisfy the recipient, or you can call or e-mail Sharon Salem, the New Haven entrepreneur, who is the founder and owner of The… Read more...

Two young men from Connecticut recently celebrated their b’nai mitzvah in a special way - dedicated to Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews during the Holocaust. Joshua Genn of Greenwich, and Adam Ehrman-Shapiro of Litchfield, chose to participate in the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous’ (JFR)… Read more...

A dozen members of the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England and their chaperones visited Israel from December 20, 2006 January 3, 2007. Howard Blas, director of Ramah New England’s Tikvah Program, expressed his feelings about this special experience. The trip was a dream come true. This was… Read more...

Darna Restaurant 600 Columbus Ave. (corner 89th Street) New York Tel.: (212) 721-9123; http://www.darnanyc.com Open: Sun.-Thurs.: lunch, 11:30 am-4 pm, dinner, 4 pm-11 pm, Fri.: 11:30 until one hour before Shabbat; dinner with reservations, Sat.: after Shabbat until midnight. Passing by Darna on a… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Rabbi Wesley Kalmar recently participated in a whirlwind rabbinic mission to Israel, designed to show U.S. rabbis the status of Israeli towns in the North and South which were ravaged by rockets earlier this year. Rabbi Kalmar, of the Westville Synagogue in New Haven, was the only… Read more...

As I raced from my home in New Haven to the Manhattan bound Metro North train, enroute to Kosherfest 2006 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, I realized that I first needed a few groceries. The nearby Stop & Shop in Woodbridge has a nice selection of fresh and frozen kosher foods, so I… Read more...

Dear Diary, Back in the day, families and friends of marathon runners waited for hours for their loved ones to pass by. They would tell the runner in advance precisely where they would be standing, and hope they connected. Then came the cellphone, allowing runners to offer location and commentary…. Read more...

MILFORD — Manny Strumpf is the man responsible for the first wedding and the first murder at the Statue of Liberty. But he is neither a rabbi nor a criminal. Milford resident and long-time Jewish Ledger columnist, Strumpf knows a thing or two about Lady Liberty — he served for 22 years as the… Read more...

Milk Street Cafe 50 Milk Street, Boston (Also at Norman B. Leventhal Park, at Post Office Square) 617-542-FOOD (3663) http://www.milkstreetcafe.com Kosher Open: 7am-3pm Walk through Boston’s financial district on a hot Indian-summer day and you will be delighted to discover Leventhal Park at… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — When a New Haven doctor received an email with a plea for help from an Israeli doctor, he knew it was time to mobilize-especially since the lives of Israeli soldiers were at stake. Just before the start of Shabbat in mid-August, Dr. Arthur Levy, a New Haven oncologist and chairperson… Read more...

As the sun begins to set on Yom Kippur day, hungry congregants know that one “fishy” Bible story stands between them and their bagels. The biblical Book of Jonah, read during Mincha, the afternoon service of Yom Kippur, is so well-known that a Google search of the words “Book of Jonah” delivers… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Five yeshiva students-from Brooklyn and Monsey, New York and Edison, New Jersey and their wives and children - have moved to New Haven to spend their days learning and teaching as part of the New Haven Community Kollel. In describing the mission of a kollel, which in New Haven is… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — When the Westville Kosher Bakery and Deli closed this past June, customers from all over Connecticut felt a sense of loss. A group of New Haven rabbis and congregants from several New Haven area Reform, Conservative and Orthodox shuls decided to take action. Wes Kalmar, rabbi of the… Read more...

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Sept. 1 (JTA) — Israel’s best ambassadors are personable, passionate and proud of their country. It doesn’t hurt if they’re world-class tennis players. Andy Ram, 25, and Jonathan “Yoni” Erlich, 28, close friends since their teen years and doubles partners for the past… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Fans of New Haven’s Pilot Pen tennis tournament know about the legendary J-Bloch, the often raucous cheering section in the main stadium for local hero James Blake. Childhood friends and other fans cheered Blake to victory in last year’s tournament, and they screamed in support during… Read more...

While New Haven residents are still enjoying the final days of summer, the JCC of Greater New Haven is already thinking ahead to the fall and winter months. As part of the JCC Annual Facility Fix-Up and Cleaning, the JCC will remain closed through Sunday, Aug. 27. The JCC will re-open on Monday… Read more...

A Ned Harris photo on display at the Slifka Center. Photo courtesy Ned Harris. NEW HAVEN — Rockland County photographer Ned Harris has an eye for Jewish themes and Jewish humor. In his photograph entitled, “Mixed Blessings,” Harris captures the word “Jewish” on New York’s Time Square news… Read more...

PALMER, Mass. — While Israelis sat in bomb shelters in the north of Israel, more than 60 staff members of Camp Ramah in New England - Americans and Israelis, sat in the staff lounge together-listening to the latest news from Israel, sharing concerns about family members and friends living in… Read more...

379 Whalley Avenue New Haven, Connecticut Tel.: (203) 787-1055 Open: Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-7:30pm, Sat. 8:30am-6:30pm, Sun. 9am-6pm At first sight “edge,” as the locals call it, is your typical health food store: Fresh flowers for sale greet you at the door, beyond which are the… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — When Andre Bello met the Battat family in Jamaica, they were the first Jewish people he had ever met. Trinidadian-born Bello and his wife developed such a strong connection with the Battats that they recently stayed in their Woodbridge home to share in the celebration of Sivan… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Getting a fresh loaf of rye bread or a large babka in Connecticut just got a little harder. The Westville Kosher Bakery, located on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, was closed for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and never re-opened. The Westville Kosher Bakery and Fox’s Deli featured a… Read more...

Taam Tov 41 West 47th Street, New York Tel. (212) 768-8001 or 768-2827 Open: Mon. - Fri. 10am - 6pm, kosher Wade through the sea of mainly Orthodox diamond dealers mingling and conducting business along 47th Street and you will come across a man with a sandwich board, standing in front of an office… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Most painters use paintbrushes or even fingers in their work. Joshua Meyer, a Yale College (1996) graduate and current resident of Cambridge, Mass., uses neither-he paints only with knives! Meyers uses knives to layer the paint and move the colors around for his oil paintings. In the… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — As the summer of 1952 was drawing to a close, the New Haven Register featured a photo of eight smiling children wearing birthday hats and blowing out candles, as they stood gathered around a large birthday cake. The caption read, “Jewish Center Campers End Season with Birthday Fete.”… Read more...

Homegrown author inspired to write book on Louis-Schmeling fight David Margolick has worked for the past nine years as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, where he mainly covers politics, media and culture. Prior to that, Margolick was the national legal affairs editor at the New York Times. For… Read more...

2026 Irving Street, San Francisco, Tel: (415) 731-2548, Open: Mon-Sun 11:30am-9pm, Kosher. After a long day of cable car rides, walks along Fisherman’s Wharf and a hike up Lombard Street, we were delighted to discover another Chinatown, San Francisco’s Sunset neighborhood. The Shangri-La Vegetarian… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — For Karin Carmit Yefet, it has been a long, exciting journey from Afula, Israel, to Yale Law School. And the enthusiastic, charismatic 26-year-old female may just have what it takes to become a future justice of the Israeli Supreme Court. Prior to arriving in New Haven in 2004 to begin… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven will host “Prominent Jewish-Americans with New Haven Connections,” an exhibit of ten posters by local artist Alan Falk. The exhibit will officially open on Sunday, April 30 from 1-4 p.m. at the Ethnic Heritage Center on the campus of… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Starting next September, Jewish students in New Haven entering grades nine and ten will have a new option for continuing their Jewish studies - the New Haven Judaic Academy. The Judaic Academy will serve as an after school program, offering students a fairly intense curriculum of… Read more...

Rabbi Dov Greer of New Haven has traveled around the world in his quest to become a mohel (one skilled in performing ritual circumcisions). A graduate of Yale University, Greer notes that he was always interested in mila - so much so that he would take off time from his studies at a yeshiva in… Read more...

Jelly Belly Visitor Center and Factory Tour One Jelly Belly Lane Fairfield, California Tel.: 800-JB-BEANS Tour info: 800-953-5592 Free drop-in tours daily 9am-4pm (A train and video tour are also offered at a second plant, in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin; tel.: 866-TOUR-JBC), Kosher… Read more...

When Heather Fiedler, a Judaic Studies fifth grade teacher at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford found out that she had been selected as one of 30 North American educators on the ZIV Foundation Mitzvah Heroes Tour for Educators - a program founded by Danny Siegel — she was… Read more...

For the Katten family of West Hartford, Clayton, Georgia was a perfect destination for their summer vacation-though it is not easy to reach this tranquil spot in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Kattens were one of 20 families lucky enough to participate this past year in Camp Yofi… Read more...

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF) has big plans to build Jewish identity and community-and it involves a swimming pool, a lake, an arts center, sports fields, courts, and acres of untouched forest in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. According to Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat, director of… Read more...

2608 Broadway between 98th and 99th Streets, NY Tel.: (212) 865- 7334; http://www.la-creperie.com Open: Sun-Thurs: 11am-11pm Fri: 11am-2pm Sat: one hour after Shabbat-1 a.m. It is not at all surprising to find a kosher dairy restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. But when it opened… Read more...

NEW HAVEN-With the Israeli elections only one month away, and the situation in Israel uncertain given the condition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the recent Hamas victory, experts on the Israeli political situation are in great demand. CNN, Fox News, NPR and the Jewish communities of the… Read more...

MIDDLETOWN — This spring, Israeli culture will be alive and well in Middletown. Thanks to Dalit Katz and her colleagues at Wesleyan University, students, faculty and the simply curious are invited to the Ring Family Wesleyan Israel Film Festival. The festival, which started Feb.14 and runs six… Read more...

CHESHIRE — Tenth-grader Jochai Ben-Avie was attending a shabbaton at Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel with his family in September when he became inspired. The scholar-in-residence that day was Danny Siegel, also know as “The Mitzvah Man.” Director of the Ziv Foundation, Siegel speaks around the… Read more...

When Tsvi Benson-Tilsen celebrates his bar mitzvah on Feb. 18, the sun will surely shine on Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI) in New Haven. Tsvis bar mitzvah project, which involves installing a 6,000 watt photovoltaic system on the BEKI roof, is designed to harness solar power for the… Read more...

Yale Professor talks about his work in Computer Science NEW HAVEN — When Israeli Avi Silberschatz moved to the United States in the 1970s to begin his studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he intended to major in industrial engineering. But after taking a course in the… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE-When Judith Hess saw a Jewish Ledger article last year about a Hazon environmental fundraising bike ride in Israel, she cut it out and saved it, hoping that one day she too, could participate in such a ride. Recently, the Woodbridge mother of two did just that. Hess just returned from… Read more...

On a recent trip to Israel with his wife and four-year-old twin daughters, comedian Joel Chasnoff was called on to perform his comedy routine at the spur of the moment. “Someone recognized me from a performance I had done at a conference in England,” Chasnoff explained. “Next thing I knew, I… Read more...

Hockey is alive and well in Israel. The Israel National Team played in the highly competitive Spartak Tournament in Moscow this past August, and they will play in the 2006 World Championships in France (against Germany, Hungary, Japan and France) this April. And Jeff Russell of Orange is proud that… Read more...

Mendy’s Grand Central Station (Lower Level Dining Concourse), NY Mendy’s Dairy and Appetizers: 7am-5:45pm, Sunday 7:30am- 3pm Mendy’s Kosher Deli: 10:30am- 8:45pm, Sundays till 6pm Closed on Shabbat Tel: (212) 856-9399 http://www.mendysdeli.com Drop by Grand Central Station’s… Read more...

Madonna didnt make an appearance, but Kabbalah Energy drink did. There were rumors that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would show up, but the thousands on hand had to settle for Kirk Rademaker, as he put the finishing touches on a hummus bust of the mayor. The Bloomberg sculpture was on display… Read more...

Artist Alan Falk paints what can best be described as artistic midrash. Falks work includes paintings depicting the biblical characters of Adam, Abraham and Hagar and the creation story. His wide-ranging Jewish art also depicts holiday scenes, acts of human kindness, peace, and Chaim Potok. But… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Who attends more bar and bat mitzvahs in a year - rabbis and cantors, seventh graders, or Mark Oppenheimer? If the year in question was 2002, the award probably goes to Oppenheimer, editor of the New Haven Advocate and author of the recently published “Thirteen and a Day: The Bar and… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — On a recent Shabbat morning, the third floor Zucker Reading Room in Yale Universitys Slifka Center had lots of singing and camaraderie, a mechitza (the divider separating male and females during prayer) n and male and female prayer leaders and Torah readers. While college students… Read more...

Streit’s Matzos Factory Store, 150 Rivington Street, New York, Tel: (212) 677-0876, http://www.matzofiles.org, Hours: Tues-Thurs 3pm-6pm, Sun 12 noon - 5pm, appointments possible. Though Passover’s more than half a year away, there’s a lot of action at Steit’s Matzos on Manhattan’s Lower East Side… Read more...

Mix one part Jewish outreach with equal parts comedy and irreverence and the result is “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad.” According to Susannah Perlman, known by such titles as “hostess, ringleader, comedian/chanteuse and Goddess Perlman,” the show is a “refreshing mix of comedy, music, spoken-word and… Read more...

When Doron Ben-Atar left Israel in 1979 to attend Brandeis University, he had no idea that his life would become so interconnected with American history. Ben-Atar received a PhD in American history, he teaches American history at Fordham University (following a long stint at Yale), and he lives in… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — In one New Haven synagogue, all members live in the building, some walk to shul, and the rabbi, despite his graying beard, is still younger than every single congregant. Dr. Arnold Carmel serves as rabbi of Tower One/Tower East, an independent living facility in New Haven, with its… Read more...

Actors based new movie partly on his Jewish family NEW YORK — Paul Reiser is a well-known screen, TV and stage actor, stand-up comedian, author and musician. He was co-creator and star of NBCs critically acclaimed series, Mad About You, and he has starred in such movies as Get Bruce, Beverly Hills… Read more...

Marc and Wendy Greenberg of Guilford were in the stands at Dolphins Stadium in Miami the July night when their son Adam was hit in the head by a fastball in his first Major League baseball game. Adam, 24, had been called up from Double A West Tennessee for his first major league appearance with the… Read more...

MADISON — Camp Laurelwood turned into an instant absorption center for an eager group of Israelis last week as the new crop of Young Emissaries from Israel’s Afula-Gilboa region arrived in America. They spent four days last week at Laurelwood of intensive training, bonding, meetings with Jewish… Read more...

At 6am on a recent Sunday morning, a group of us grabbed mountain bikes, helmets and water bottles and set out from Palmer, Massachusetts for Quabbin Reservoir, 10 miles northwest of us. We rode past the local airport, through the town of Belchertown, alongside Doug’s Taxidermy and Archery shop and… Read more...

NEW HAVEN-In the second round of the men’s doubles at the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament last week, Jewish players were on both sides of the net Israelis Andy Ram and Jonathan “Yoni” Erlich faced Justin Gimelstob and his (non-Jewish) partner, Jim Thomas. Andy Ram, 25, was one of four male qualifiers… Read more...

In many ways, Jesse Levine is a typical 17-year-old-he enjoys hanging out with his friends, listening to hip hop music, playing basketball and soccer, and using the Internet. In fact, it is easier to connect with Levine by email than by phone. Levine and partner Michael Shabaz won the Wimbeldon… Read more...

When Morris Trachten attended the University of Connecticut in the 1940s, very few students kept kosher. “I survived on tuna and egg salad,” recalls Trachten, who entered UConn in 1942, left to serve in the military, then completed his studies in the School of Business Administration in 1948. Now… Read more...

Camp Ramah, the camping branch of the Conservative Movement of Judaism, has provided special needs populations with an exciting camping experience for over 30 years. The Tikvah (meaning hope in Hebrew) Programs are located in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, California and Canada and serve Jewish… Read more...

Howard was interviewed for Yale’s Developmental Disabilities Clinic Newsletter - Summer 2005 edition, what follows is the excerpt containing Howard’s interview. The original newsletter can be accessed here: http://www.med.yale.edu Camp Ramah, the camping branch of the… Read more...

NEW HAVEN-When Jonathan Fleisig was a boy, all the kids in the neighborhood knew his house was kosher. Now, when kids and adults eat in his ballpark, they can also enjoy kosher food. New York resident Fleisig, 39, is the majority owner of the New Haven County Cutters. “The idea of serving food to… Read more...

Catalog pioneer honored by Shaare Zedek Medical Center On June 6, Lillian Vernon, catalog pioneer, philanthropist and Greenwich resident, received the Woman of Achievement Award at the 18th annual luncheon for the Women’s Division of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Lillian Vernon is the… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Two area men were recently honored for quietly keeping Judaism alive in Westville for nearly half a century. William ("Bill”) Ledewitz and Albert ("Al”) Hourwitz have each been attending the daily minyan at the Westville Synagogue for 45 years. “These men truly teach us what it means… Read more...

MADISON — When Ruth Ann Ornstein received an email from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) last year, she knew Camp Laurelwood had an important job to do. Ornstein, executive director of Camp Laurelwood, and other camp directors around the country were asked to apply to be the host camp for Israeli… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Jews just love Chinese food! With the opening of Kosher Express, Connecticut residents are enjoying a new kosher Chinese restaurant. A glatt kosher restaurant under rabbinical supervision of the OK (Organized Kashrus Laboratories), Kosher Express opened on May 25 in the Amity Plaza… Read more...

ORANGE — A physician, psychologist and a hospital medical worker are meeting one evening in the classroom of a local synagogue. But this group of men and women is not there for the Talmud or Kabbalah class; this is the weekly New Haven-area meeting of JACS (Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically dependent… Read more...

Dear Diary, My wife and children and I were flying Song Airlines to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The flight attendants, playful and funny throughout the flight, said as we landed: ‘’Be sure to check the seats and overhead compartment for all of your belongings. What you don’t take can be reclaimed… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE - The Dream Team came to the Jewish Community Center last week. But this team didn’t come to show off their athletic skills; they came for a graduation of sorts. This Dream Team of teen leaders from 22 Southern Connecticut Conference high schools have spent the year participating in the… Read more...

For Jennifer Kugler, Poland was a logical stop on a physically and emotionally tiring journey which has taken her from her hometown of Glenside, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C, to Auschwitz. And she prays she will get to go to Israel next year. Kugler, a social studies teacher for sixth through… Read more...

New Haven Federation participates in March of the Living At Auschwitz-Birkenau, Raisy Sessel of Orange, 12, traveling to Poland and Israel with her mother, Deborah, was struck by the hundreds of shoes confiscated by the Nazis, now in a display case in one of the barracks. Other cases display human… Read more...

WARSAW — Why would 15 day school teachers and administrators come to school at 10pm on a Saturday night? Because the staff of the Lauder-Morasha School, under the leadership of principal Helise Lieberman is eager to talk about and to show off their 250-student day school. Dr. Norman Ravski… Read more...

921 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, Maryland Tel: (410) 580-1400; http://www.cafe921.com Open: Sun.-Thurs.: 11am - 9pm, Fri.: 11am- 1:30pm in winter; 11am-2:30pm in summer; Saturday: 1 hour after Shabbat; kosher Baltimore natives fondly remember 921 Reisterstown Road as home of the… Read more...

Spotted by Howard Blas on a sign at Kyoto Sushi on Lexington Avenue between 83rd and 84th Streets: ‘’Early bird special: chicken teriyaki.'’ Howard Blas Read more...

POLAND — The trains whiz in and out of the Oswiecim Station, to and from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The people stand, packed like sardines with little room to move. The men with beards and black hats are sent by government agents to the left and to the right. We are in Poland… Read more...

As Jews around the world celebrate Passover, the holiday commemorating our journey from slavery to freedom, Jews from around the state are preparing to relive a more recent bondage to liberation story. From May 3 through 13, about 80 Connecticut residents will join 18,000 Jews from around the world… Read more...

WATERFORD — Rabbis across the country recently received an important pre-Pesach letter from Eli Zborowski, chairman of the American and International Societies for Yad Vashem. “I am a Holocaust survivor and the words from slavery to redemption’ hold special meaning to me,” Zborowski wrote. He then… Read more...

STAMFORD — “Creative Contraptions,” a four-part exhibition featuring the cartoons, sketches and inventions of Rube Goldberg, are currently on display at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center through May 22. Rube Goldberg, who lived from 1883-1970, was the artist, cartoonist and inventor so… Read more...

Dear Diary, We had recently moved to New Haven from Manhattan. The week before Passover, on the first nice day in quite some time, I followed the custom of car owners in the suburbs and went to the car wash. I was prepared for the sales job that awaited me: the attempt to sell an interior and… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE - When Avi Bar-Aharon invited two New Haven area buddies to climb Tanzania’s 19,345-foot Mount Kilimanjaro with him, he had no idea it would be one of the most intense Jewish experiences of his life. The long ascent up Kilimanjaro, which ended with 24 climbers from ten countries (and… Read more...

HAMDEN — When Marilyn Monroe converted to Judaism and married writer Arthur Miller, she turned to Rabbi Robert Goldburg, the same New Haven rabbi who was labeled a Communist during the McCarthy era, had a 205-page FBI dossier for his vigorous opposition to the Vietnam War, and would later be… Read more...

This Jewish year, with its two Adars, affords aficionados of hamentaschen (Haman’s pocket, in Yiddish; in Hebrew, the goodies are called oznei Haman, or Haman’s ears) an extra month to contemplate and seek out the perfect three-cornered pastry. Before we get to the main course, you may wonder why… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — When David Gelernter writes, “A painting is a form of trapped energy, like a compressed spring or a rock at the top of a hill,” he sounds more like a professor than an artist. In fact, Gelernter is both. A professor of computer science at Yale University, best known for his “Linda… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — When Shlomit Daniel set out for school each morning in Ethiopia, she could have never imagined a day when she would be teacher in the United States. “Many children, especially girls, didn’t go to schoolthey studied at home with the kessim (Ethiopian Jewish priests). My parents… Read more...

New Haven residents received an interesting postcard in the mail recentlya photograph of a girl with wide eyes, a curious look on her faceand a long black beard. The caption, for Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy reads, “You don’t need a beard to attend the Academy. Just a need for great… Read more...

In honor of George Washington’s birthday on February 22, I ran an Internet search on the relationship between the first president and the Jews, and found some interesting results. For a good overview of Washington’s life, including the apocryphal “I cannot tell a lie” cherry tree story, it is… Read more...

NEW HAVEN - If Jews are the People of the Book, then Rabbi Murray Levine can best be described as the teacher, reader, reviewer, collector and now donor of the book. The 77-year-old “retired” rabbi teaches a class for area rabbis at Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI) in New Haven and is… Read more...

Are Jewish day school graduates happy? Audrey Lichter, director of Yachad, the Greater Hartford Jewish Community High School, Hartford venture capitalist Alan Mendelson and two university researchers are trying to find out just that. Prof. Michael Ben-Avie, a research scientist and associate… Read more...

After 25 years of selling and marketing such products as Stride Rite, Keds and Levi Strauss, Jerry Silverman brings his business sense and passion to a product that lasts many years longer than your average pair of shoes or jeans. Silverman, the former president of the Stride Rite Children’s Group… Read more...

Fifty 10th and 11th graders from across the Southern New England region had a true “mifgash” (an encounter) with each other and with Israeli peers from their Partnership 2000 Afula-Gilboa community during a recent nine-day SNEC Mifgash Israel trip. The teens are participants in high school programs… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — Rabbi Joel Hoffman’s physical and spiritual journey has included stops in Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Israel. Now, Hoffman comes to New Haven as the new director of the Department of Jewish Education for the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. Hoffman… Read more...

Teenagers in Westport, Wilton, Weston and Norwalk are learning the true meaning of (the song lyrics) “You’ve Got A Friend.” Every week, a team of two teenagers visits with their same “special friend” in his or her home as part of the “Home With Friends” program. Zach Zorfas of Westport spends an… Read more...

When I was a kid, Tu Bishvat meant putting money in the Jewish National Fund pushke, singing “Hashkediah Porahat” (The Almond Tree Is Blooming) and eating almonds from Israel, or trying to avoid breaking teeth on dried carobs. The Internet has widened the options for observing the New Year of the… Read more...

SNEC director builds people-to-people relationships with Israel Laura Campbell is the new executive director of the Southern New England Consortium (SNEC), a network of 13 Jewish Federations in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts. She grew up in Orange, attended synagogue at… Read more...

In spite of the romanticized nature of his images, or perhaps because of it, it is David Roberts’s 19th-century prints that many still think of when they think of the Holy Land Jewish tradition holds that Moses was denied entry to the Land of Israel for striking the rock. Although the fairness of… Read more...

69-66 Main Street, Flushing, New York Tel: (718) 261-6767 Open: Sun.-Wed.: 9am-7pm; Thurs.: 9am-9pm; Fri.: 9am-2pm. All products are kosher. The Pereg Gourmet Spice Store is a stone’s throw from Shea Stadium and the U.S. Tennis Center in Queens, New York. Located in a strip mall in a predominantly… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Members of the New Haven community last week presented Rep. Rosa DeLauro with a petition asking the U.S. government to take action against the ongoing violence in Darfur, Sudan. On Friday, Jan. 14, just days before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, members of the community, including… Read more...

According to a 1,000-year-old Chinese legend, a great emperor was feeling lonely and sad, as his wife had gone on a journey and hadn’t yet returned. He summoned his court magician to locate her and bring her home. The magician, knowing this request was nearly impossible, thought quickly. He found a… Read more...

153 East 53rd Street, corner of Lexington Avenue, at the sunken plaza of Citigroup Center, Manhattan. “Which building do you work in?” asks Avraham Matayav, the friendly, soft-spoken immigrant from Tajikistan and proprietor of Moshe’s Café International Glatt Kosher Cuisine. The eatery, Avraham… Read more...

Why do Israelis call the night of December 31, which most of us call New Year’s Eve, Sylvester? If you don’t know, you’re not alone. Rabbi Jeremy Rosen didn’t either. Rosen confesses his ignorance at http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk “Having been brought up in… Read more...

It is not easy to define “Jewish music.” And it is even more difficult to define Jewish “religious” music. Fortunately, Boston’s Robert Cohen, writer, lecturer and music historian, has been tackling questions of Jewish music for many years. He has just released a compilation CD of contemporary… Read more...

From the Land of Milk and Honey to the Nutmeg state Israeli professors have made their way from the Land of Milk and Honey to the Nutmeg State to touch the lives of students of all ages. Private and public universities throughout the state of Connecticut serve as hosts to Israel’s “best and… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Elie Wiesel, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Rabbi Hillel would have been proud. The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven assembled a group of Jewish, Christian and community groups for a rally at New Haven City Hall, on Dec. 10, Human… Read more...

I have always been intrigued by the idea of pirsumei nisa, or “publicizing the miracle,” on Hanukkah. During my college year of study in Israel, I loved walking through the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, where every window ledge was occupied by a flickering Hanukkah menorah, usually oil-burning, at… Read more...

GUILFORD - For the Greenberg family, Thanksgiving is all of the Jewish holidays rolled into one. “This is our holiday!” says Wendy Greenberg, mother of Adam Greenberg, an outfielder who has thus far played on Double and Triple A teams in the Chicago Cubs organization. “With Adam on the road ten… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — By the time Jason Lieberman, director of community and government affairs for Yachad, the National Council for Jewish Disabilities, finished telling the story of Miri and the horse, the men, women and children of the Westville Synagogue were in tears. Lieberman spoke of 26-year-old… Read more...

Kosher - tasty, diverse and healthy - is all the rage Believe it or not, there are now 82,000 kosher certified products available to consumers. This statistic is one of many fascinating “impressive facts” reported by Lubicon Marketing and Consulting studies and listed in the Kosherfest 2004… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — It is amazing how much a group of 15 mothers, mostly with children in the under 12-year age range, can remember about their own teen years. Sydney Perry, director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven and veteran executive director of the Department of Jewish Education… Read more...

The number 350 is all the rage among North American Jews these days, as the community observes it 350th anniversary. The first U.S. Jews, as most of us know, were New Yorkers, who arrived in what was then New Amsterdam from Recife, Brazil, in 1654. The main clearinghouse for anniversary events… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — What do Duke University, the State of Israel and the Knights of Columbus Museum have in common? They have all been fortunate enough to host an extraordinary exhibit of lithographs by Scottish architectural and landscape painter, David Roberts. Roberts spent 11 months traveling… Read more...

In my Baltimore grade school, we learned the mnemonic “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” In Hebrew school, we learned that was the year the Jews were expelled from Spain. Nobody then, however, told us about an ongoing discussion over the years on the connection… Read more...

Hamden native writes humorous book for new dads It is hard to keep a straight face when talking to comedian and author Gary Greenberg - even at 1am (Connecticut time) on a phone interview on the set of “The Jimmy Kimmel Live” Show, where Greenberg is a writer. Greenberg, who grew up in Hamden… Read more...

New Haven actor appeared in “The Sopranos” Actor Bruce Altman has been living in New Haven since 1987, the year he started studying at the Yale School of Drama. He graduated from Yale in 1990. Altman, who also studied in New York City with William Hickey and at the William Esper Studio, has… Read more...

NEW HAVEN - For 50 years, Rabbi Albert Feldman led the Westville Synagogue. So when he decided to retire this year, there were some pretty big shoes to fill. “Last October at our Town Meeting, we identified several traits we would look for in a new rabbi: he must be a halachic authority, able to… Read more...

NEW HAVEN - When Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel’s (BEKI) board of directors met to discuss and formulate “BEKI 2000,” the master plan of the synagogue’s needed infrastructure upgrades, all agreed that the upgrading of the heating and air conditioning was a priority. But what should the synagogue… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — When JCC and community members approach the Center Café; for a post-work out bagel and coffee, or for a tasty after-swim-class dairy dinner for their children, they are greeted by a sign on the closed glass doors which reads, “Effective Friday Aug. 13, the JCC Café; will be… Read more...

Connecticut native writes book about black and Jewish tennis stars Connecticut native Bruce Schoenfeld lived in Stamford from the age of three until he went to college. But even while attending Harvard University and through his years in Memphis, where he worked as a reporter covering baseball, he… Read more...

Members of the Israeli Olympic team and their fans who make the trip to Athens can use the Internet to find a synagogue if they deem it necessary to pray before events and give thanks for the outcome, or to locate some traditional Greek kosher cuisine in Athens. Probably the best place to start is… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — While most members of the Israeli Olympic delegation will return home to Israel once their events are complete, one athlete will go straight to Connecticut. Even if tennis player Anna Pistolesi, currently ranked 18th in the world, makes it to the Olympic finals on Aug. 20, she can… Read more...

New UNH president has big plans for the college Last month, Dr. Steven Kaplan assumed the presidency at the University of New Haven. He was most recently chancellor and professor of English at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Kaplan received his BA in history from the University of… Read more...

NEW BRITAIN — What is the world’s record for the most Jews taking part in a siyyum in the parking lot of a baseball stadium? No one knows for sure. Perhaps the record goes to the 400 campers and counselors from Camp Ramah in New England who listened as business manager Joel Stavsky completed his… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — When Jeremy Jacobson packs for college, he will be taking more than just clothes, bedding, books and photographs of family and friends. The 21-year-old Chevy Chase, Maryland resident will be bringing along two sets of dishes, pots and pans and an illustrated guide to keeping kosher…. Read more...

Outside of Israel, it is nearly impossible to be 100 percent Sabbath-observant in a hotel anywhere. You make a reservation and arrive late Friday afternoon, luggage and Shabbat food in hand, only to find out that you are on the 19th floor, or that the door to your room only operates with an… Read more...

Asking most Jews about fast days will produce mentions of Yom Kippur, and perhaps Tisha Be’av as well. Not so many know about 17 Tammuz (July 6 this year), which traditionally marks the anniversary of many Jewish calamities. An easy-to-find register of those historical horrors, at… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE — Rabbi Amanda Brodie called Ezra Academy head of school, Shelley Kreiger the minute the group cleared U.S. Customs. That left just enough time for the entire Ezra community to mobilize. Parents cried with joy and excitement as the yellow school bus turned into the Ezra parking lot, now… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Ruth Juras was one of the lucky ones. A native Berliner, she began to see the writing on the wall. First came a series of anti-Jewish legislation passed in 1933, then came the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 the year she was forced to withdraw from Berlin’s Sophien Lyceeum school. Ruth became… Read more...

Once upon a time, “You’ve got mail” meant that the postman actually delivered a letter to your home mailbox. I remember the excitement when someone actually sent a letter from a foreign country! Once, my bubbeh gave me an envelope from a distant cousin in Argentina, and a postcard from an aunt from… Read more...

HAMDEN — Norma Grinfeld and Michele Abrams may be the closest things Jewish education in the area has to Ms. Frizzle of “Magic School Bus” fame. Grinfeld, principal of the Mishkan Israel religious school, Abrams, a fifth grade teacher, Rabbi Herbert Brockman and many dedicated parents and temple… Read more...

WOODBRIDGE, CT — Jewish cellist Inbal Megiddo and Syrian pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar will perform in concert as part of the upcoming Yom Haatzmaut celebration at the JCC of Greater New Haven in a program entitled, “Harmony Amidst Discord.” Megiddo and Abboud Ashkar met as participants in the… Read more...

When the first Jewish family arrived in New Haven from Venice, Italy in 1758, there were not enough Jews to constitute a minyan let alone a place for the sick to go to seek medical treatment. But by the time a small group of Jewish settlers from Bavaria, Germany arrived in 1840, New Haven’s first… Read more...

Pongal 110 Lexington Ave., Manhattan, (212) 696-9458 Madras Mahal 104 Lexington Ave., Tel. (212) 684-4010 Udipi Palace, 103 Lexington Ave. Tel. (212) 889-3477. Walking down Lexington Ave. between 28th and 27th streets in New York, one might reasonably ask, “How is this kosher vegetarian Southern… Read more...

Anne Frank would have been 75 this year, had she survived. When I put her name into a search at http://www.google.com I got exactly 4,930,000 hits. Mining this abundance of material on her and her diary is an appropriate way, for Internet freaks and others, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day which… Read more...

New Haven has a national reputation for exceptional pizza. When Americans from Billings to Baton Rouge watch The Food Network on April 27, they may just become familiar with New Haven’s tasty babka as well. In late February, Phil Weinberger, owner of the Westville Kosher Bakery, received an unusual… Read more...

Israel has gotten a bit closer -thanks to one tall and muscular man who chose The Bronx over Nepal, India and South America for his post-army travels. Mushon Yaakosi, 6’8” and 250 pounds, from Raanana, Israel, just completed his second season on the Fordham Rams basketball team. How did Yaakosi… Read more...

Doctor has passion for music, teaching and airplanes Dr. Michael Kligfeld is a member of a different kind of sandwich generation. The longtime New Haven resident is proud to be “sandwiched” between a father and a son who are both rabbis. And Kligfeld is a man of many interests and talentsfrom… Read more...

ACCORDING TO A MIDRASH, THE JEWS WERE redeemed from bondage in Egypt because they retained their Hebrew names. These days, Jewish kids outside Israel aren’t given Hebrew names in addition to their Bradleys or Brittneys as a matter of course, as they were once - unless, of course, they’re called… Read more...

Orthodox synagogue Anschei Tapuz has been struggling with the issue of mechitza for the past several months. Some wish the mechitza to be raised, while others advocate for the height to be kept just where it is. A compromise position has been reached: the floor will be lowered by six inches. In… Read more...

HAMDEN — How old were you when you attended your first Jewish wedding? Given the costs of weddings, most brides and groups are forced to keep children off the guest list. Children therefore learn about Jewish weddings from parents’ wedding albums, Hebrew school lessons on this life cycle event, or… Read more...

DANBURY — Cory Chargo’s pink shirt, purple alef-bet tie, winning smile, and open office door welcome teachers, parents, visitors and the 80 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades, to the Maimonides Academy of Western Connecticut. Chargo, an experienced Jewish educator and social… Read more...

Ambassador advocates for Ethiopian Jewry Ambassador Asher Naim has been a member of the Israeli diplomatic corps for 43 years. His distinguished career has included postings in such places as Japan, Kenya, Uganda, Finland and Korea. In Tokyo (1956-60), he was cultural and press attache. While in… Read more...

Ask an American Jew in his 40s or older to name his most memorable Jewish experience, and there’s a good chance he’ll say Sandy Koufax sitting out the first game of the 1965 World Series on Yom Kippur. Ask the same man how many Jews have ever played Major League baseball and he’ll have a hard time… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — Everything is zayer gutt’ Wednesdays at noon at Yale University’s Slifka Center. A dedicated group of mamaloshen lovers, a.k.a. “The Yale Hillel Yiddish Reading Circle,” sit around a long, board room-like table for an hour and a half of reading, serious discussion and friendly… Read more...

Maccabiah sports competitions were a highlight for many of us in our Jewish summer camp days. Some of those camp athletes went on to compete against others in the Maccabiah Games, and most Israelis root for Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of Europe’s top basketball teams. The association of the Maccabee… Read more...

ORANGE — Nearly every Jewish home has a shelf or a box-in-storage full of Chanukah menorahs. And each family member surely has his or her favorite one. Maybe it’s the Noah’s Ark chanukiah given by a family member when we were born; or, perhaps it’s the silver one presented by the sisterhood… Read more...

There’s snow and ice on the ground, and pitchers and catchers don’t report for Spring Training for another three months. Die-hard baseball fans are left to follow off-season trades, watch ESPN Classic or continue wondering why the Red Sox nor the Yankees are the current World Champions. Now, thanks… Read more...

In these troubles times, with anti-semitism and worse apparently on the rise everywhere, it’s not a bad idea to learn some kind of self-defense. The fact that lots of other people are doing so is demonstrated by one simple statistic: The martial arts industry reportedly generates annual revenues of… Read more...

NEW HAVEN — David Dalnekoff and Jeremy Jacobson are two men on the move. And for these two Westville residents, most of their moves are Jewish. David and Jeremy dont allow their developmental disabilities to get in the way of their jobs, their almost daily participation in their shuls minyan, and… Read more...

Exhibitors came to Kosherfest from Israel, Italy, Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Polandand Connecticut! Connecticut residents representing various facets of the kosher food industry were among the thousands in attendance at Kosherfest. Some were serving food or passing out samples at booths; others… Read more...

Authority on Yiddish folk and theatre music headlines New Haven event Zalmen Mlotek is an accomplished conductor, an authority on Yiddish folk and theatre music, and the executive director of the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre. He grew up in The Bronx, in a Yiddish speaking home. Mlotek’s father, a… Read more...

Lifelong New Haven resident is running for alderwoman Ina Silverman, a lifelong New Haven resident, is running for Alderwoman of the 25th Ward. A graduate of Yale with a degree in anthropology, she also received a master’s degree in public health from the Yale School of Medicine. She is a graduate… Read more...

Relentless Israeli tennis player Anna Pistolesi, nee Smashnova, is racking up the wins, mostly Howard Blas New Haven Just before the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows in late August, Anna Pistolesi faced the world’s No. 14 player, Vera Zvonereva of Russia, in the second round of the Pilot Pen… Read more...

Madonna is not the fist singer to write a children’s book but she’s probably the first to name a character “Bina” - “understanding” in Hebrew. In “The English Roses,” the four other main characters are jealous of the blonde-haired Bina’s seemingly perfect life. And Madonna’s likely also the first… Read more...

STRATFORD, CT — If you were looking to rent a car or truck in Toronto about 20 years ago, you might have dealt with an enterprising, customer friendly young man named Bryan Bramly. If you were looking for Jewish life on the University of Victoria campus (a few years later), you may have come… Read more...

Observant Jewish community in Sunderland to create center for Torah learning, living and farming SUNDERLAND — A kosher, organic farming community in Sunderland is moving forward with plans to create a center for Torah learning, living and farming. Hidden behind a giant white dome and several homes… Read more...

It’s the Wednesday afternoon before the Shabbat of my student’s bar mitzvah. Jake has been working hard for the past hour and a half, quietly reading his sermon and loudly belting out songs as Cantor Lisa Hest accompanies him on the guitar. Jake is a young man with a range of special needs, and… Read more...

The only time my Bubbeh ever took a break from preparing heavy fleishig (meat) holiday food was on Shavuot. Admittedly, some Jews (mainly Sephardim) do eat meat that day, as they would on any other holiday, since dairy is not considered very festive. Others, to satisfy all opinions, eat a dairy… Read more...

Our small group of campers from the Tikvah ("Hope”) Program of Camp Ramah in New England had planned a 12-day trip up and down Israel and the imminent war with Iraq wasn’t going to stop us. I thought it ironic that the lead story in the Hebrew papers distributed on our flight to Israel in February… Read more...

When it comes to our children’s education, most of us accept the sad fact that what we get is what we get. But once in a while, we have an opportunity to step back and assess what our children actually know. As was the case when many kids stayed home during the Scud missile threat in Israel, or… Read more...

Three special needs students came to Israel last week to share a message of hope and support for Israel. Simone Rosenzweig reports: For three extraordinary young men who visited Israel from February 12 through 24, the fact that others were scared to visit now only fueled their desire to come. The… Read more...

When I was growing up, the only connection Jews had with China was through food; a Chinese restaurant was the perfect place for Jews to go on Christmas Day and just after Pesah, when the holiday dishes still hadn’t been put away. Today Jews can learn about China - - and even plan a trip there --… Read more...

It took two great Zionist thinkers, pioneering farmers, brave soldiers and wads of cash to put the modern State of Israel on the map. But a few pranksters were able to take it off. I’m referring to a recent e-mail from a friend, warning me and about 100 other close friends not to buy Fuji film… Read more...

Sarajevo: Dating from 14th-century Catalonia, the Sarajevo Haggadah made its way via Italy to Bosnia, where it was acquired but kept hidden for safety by the national museum in 1894. It was secreted away from the Nazis by a Muslim professor, and survived the Bosnian war of 1992-95. Now, through the… Read more...

515 Amsterdam between 84th and 85th Streets (kosher) Tel.: (212) 787-6008, http://www.alibabany.com Yemenit Israeli Moshe Harizy came to New York 19 years ago, opened a stationery store, and started an Upper West Side Yemenite-style minyan, where he graciously served three free meals every Shabbat… Read more...

’Buy Israeli’ fairs, for shoppers who won’t make the trip to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv this year, are sweeping America New York — Merchants from Jerusalem’s Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall had their busiest day in more than a year one Sunday in early May, when 10,000 enthusiastic customers snapped up… Read more...

Entering a New York City taxi cab, more information than one might want awaits the astute fare. With one breath, you can tell if the driver smokes; with one ear, you can tell if he’s a traffic-and- weather junkie, a Christian radio devotee or a jazz maven. The first thing I look for is the name of… Read more...

Muslims account for about a fifth of the kosher food sales in the United States. But while Jewish dietary laws are similar to Islamic halal - there are some obstacles to full-scale cooperation. Sometime in 1997, the Muslim and Jewish chaplains Mt. Holyoke College had to deal with an emergency. The… Read more...

Teacha! Stories from a Yeshiva By Gery Albarelli Glad Day Books 104pp.; $10.95, Strange Bedfellows: An Italian-Catholic teacher finds his way into the hearts of his Satmar Hasid students. I think it was Woody Allen who once turned Shaw’s quote on its head when he observed, “Those who can’t teach… Read more...

The stone-faced members of the U.S. Secret Service and of the Israeli Shin Bet’s VIP protection unit all boasted the wire dangling from one ear, close-cropped haircuts, dark suits and ties. But you could tell them apart, during the Shabbat service at Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East… Read more...

Putting a mezuzah on the doll’s house is just one of many ways to turn your home into ‘Jewish space’ Maybe you can’t judge a book by its cover, or even by its title, but that didn’t stop fellow riders on several Manhattan buses and subways from offering their comments about Anita Diamant’s new… Read more...

Dear Diary, The place is the entrance to Riverside Park at 84th Street, where Joseph Dembo notices a tiny woman talking to her tiny dog. As he saunters by he hears the woman say, “I have enough neuroses of my own, Toby, therefore I can’t cope with yours.” . . . The place and time: a crowded M66 bus… Read more...