Rosh Hashanah

Here in the Old City of Jerusalem and probably in your own neighborhood, classes for the coming holidays are popping up everywhere. As the intensity of Elul is building, the talk of the town is tshuva, repentance. We Jews spend an entire month working on ourselves, fixing bad habits and making amends with those whom [...]

When it comes to healthy eating I’m first in line to utilize all the fresh fruits and vegetables suggested by the USDA food pyramid. Most of us get our suggested daily recommended dose of fat and empty calories way before the lunch bell rings, so grabbing an apple as a snack or using in a [...]

Facts and Figures about the New Year AT A GLANCE • 5771 has 385 days, including 55 Shabbatot, the longest possible year in the Jewish calendar. Calendar • 5771 is a 13-month year, known as a Jewish “leap year” (shanah me’uberet), in which the month of Adar is doubled (intercalated). • The Jewish calendar works [...]

Have you ever wondered why Avraham was the first patriarch of the Jewish people? Probably not; the reason is so obvious. We have grown up hearing the stories of the young boy Avram, who questioned the irrational idolatry of his time. We have followed him on his journey of discovery; how he investigated nature, science, [...]

In my childhood, a half-century ago in Buffalo’s North Park neighborhood that served as a passage point between the East Side of Eastern European immigrants (mostly Orthodox) and the Amherst- Williamsville suburbs of the upwardly mobile (mostly Reform and Conservative children of the émigré generation), the Jews who chose to join a synagogue had a [...]