Published Articles

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 “Smokin’ Joe Lieberman Sandwich” —  a creation, according to the It’s Kosh menu, that includes “Montréal-style smoked meat, Romanian pastrami, New York-style corned beef, Russian dressing, American coleslaw, served with French fries and no bologna.”   A wall photo on the It’s Kosh fan page features the smiling Senator holding a tray with his favorite new sandwich.

Owned and operated by Stamford resident Glenn Karow, whose children attend Carmel Academy in Greenwich, Kosh opened for business just after New Years Day.

Karow, whose many years in the food service industry include management positions at Cracker Barrel, TGI Fridays and Hale and Hearty, is delighted with the warm response to Kosh from people throughout the region – from Manhattan, Westchester, Waterbury, Fairfield, New Haven and beyond.
Of his OU-supervised restaurant he says proudly, “We have a smoker and can smoke 120 pounds of meat at a time.  We will have three 55 inch screen TVs and two 46 inch TVs, a fireplace, and seating outside with umbrellas and heaters. “Where else can you get burgers and wings and watch a game?”

And if you’re watching the game at It’s Kosh this Sunday, the restaurant invites you to take the Super Bowl Wing Challenge:  Guess how many wings are sold by the end of the day on Feb. 5, and if your guess is closest without going over, you win $100.00 in free food and drink.

“It’s great having a kosher restaurant in town, to be able to go out and have a bite and enjoy good food and a great atmosphere,” says Stamford resident Howard Wolffe, who has a tough time picking his favorite Kosh dish – “It’s between the hangar steak and the rib steak—and the wings aren’t to be missed either.”

It’s Kosh is open Sundays through Thurdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fridays 11 a.m. until two hours before sundown, and after Shabbat.
For information call (203) 614-8777.

(Source: http://www.jewishledger.com)

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Original Article Published on The BabagaNewz

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 new trend to pledge to be a veg, or to commit to eliminating or reducing meat eating habits for one month each year. Initiated by three students at Manhattan’s Abraham Joshua Heschel School, Veguary is gaining popularity around the world as it encourages awareness of the problems that can be caused by overconsumption of meat.

Americans eat 27 billion pounds of beef and 38 billion pounds of poultry each year, according to the Veguary website. Eating too much meat has been associated with high cholesterol, cancer, obesity, and heart disease. The meat industry also negatively affects the environment by destroying rainforests, wasting water, and producing unhealthy greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, large slaughterhouses often mistreat their beef cattle another cause for concern.

February is a month of conscientious eating, not necessarily being a strict vegetarian, says Andrew Udell, one of the students behind the Veguary movement. That’s why when he and his family do eat meat, they try to buy their meat from better places, like small local farms. Skyler Siegel, another Veguary organizer, adds, The majority of vegetarians I have spoken to aren’t as concerned with animals being killed as they are with animals not being killed ethically.

Sustainability is a Jewish value, notes Lizzie Davis, another Veguary organizer. It has a lot to do with tikkun olam. She points out that the small decisions we make in our lives add up. For example, Lizzie says that she and her friends bike everywhere. We all use a do-it-yourself approach to minimize the impact on the environment. We can’t take so much from the world and not give back.

When Andrew, Lizzie, and Skyler started turning February into Veguary three years ago, they had no idea how far and wide their idea would travel. They have been contacted by newspapers in Canada and England, a radio station in Atlanta, and individuals from Israel to Mexico. Perhaps most exciting of all for the ambitious teens was the news that Veguary was adopted by Middlebury College, where Andrew’s brother is a student. They served organic products to 1,200 participants and had candles on all of the tables!

In 2011, 770 people took the Veguary pledge to reduce or eliminate their meat consumption in the month of February. At press time, Veguary is on track to top that record in 2012, and the Veguary Facebook group already has 825 members.

As Tu B’Shevat approaches, it’s an especially appropriate time to consider our impact on the environment. It is admirable that a group of high school students are taking the lead in increasing awareness about climate change, unhealthy diets, and the treatment of animals, says Richard Schwartz, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America and long-time environmental activist. I hope these fine young pledgers will continue with their commitment to vegetarianism long beyond the month of Veguary and will inspire many more to follow their example.

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Greetings from Camp Ramah in California. In a short while, amitzim counselor, Estie Martin, inclusion counselor, David Cohen, former Tikvah long-time staff member, Shira Arcus, and I will join our colleagues from Ramah special needs programs from across North America to share our various spirited Tikvah prayer services. We have already discussed our inclusion programs, peulot erev, staff week training, Shabbos Is Calling and more! And we presented an hour long peulat erev on “The Role of Special Needs In Ramah Camping. We are lucky enough to participate in four intense days of meetings and sharing as part of Reshet, a National Ramah Commission initiative to bring together staff members from the various Ramah special needs programs which include Tikvah, Breira and Ramah family camps. Four of our special needs program directors are also here. We are pleased to join Ramah rashei edah, Daber Fellows, camp directors, and participants in Ramah Service Corps and the Weinstein Institute for meetings and fun. We look to sharing more from our Ramah Ojai experience–perhaps after our visit to the beach today!

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Original Article Published on The Jerusalem Post

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 too, but the 15-year-old, who was born in Ukraine and moved to Israel at age one, is a busy young woman these days.

Lera, as she is known, came back recently from an amazing run at the US Open. She played impressively in both the juniors singles and doubles tournaments. Some say she is the next Shahar Peer! Lera not only admires Peer, she also played on the same Fed Cup team as Peer, where Israel defeated Bulgaria 2-1 in a February, 2011 competition in Eilat.

Her coach Asaf Yamin very much believes in Lera. She is unique dedicated, serious, intense, likes to practice, and enjoys what she does! Yamin is hopeful that as she plays more at this high level, she will rise up the ranks of professional tennis. She is currently ranked 708 in the world for singles and 848 for doubles.

Luckily, this girl remains humble. Lera attends school, where she likes math. She loves candy, ice cream and anything sweet, and she adores her grandmother’s cooking. Keep an eye on this smiley, good natured tennis player you will be hearing a lot more about her!

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