The birth of Moshe represents a turning point of the Jewish saga in Egypt. This would-be savior arrives as the Jewish slaves are being mercilessly crushed by Egyptian oppression. Pharaoh had legislated that all Jewish infants be flung into the Nile river and delivered to their inevitable death; Egyptian discrimination had begotten slavery and slavery

As we began preparing our quarterly report, I felt the need to reflect on my first 3three months working with NCSY Israel. I started the position in September and since then I have been meeting with teens, parents, board members and staff to learn more about the organization and our accomplishments. I have experienced both

Each of the fifty-two sections or parshiyot of the Torah are separated from the previous section by an empty space of at least nine letters. There is only one exception to this policy –the beginning of parshat Vayechi – which is fused to the conclusion of parshat Vayigash without any intervening empty space. Rashi cites

Making a “Shidduch” is certainly a great honor. In our traditional world one usually thinks of a shidduch in marital terms, i.e. of introducing two life partners to each other. Besides the marital bliss shidduch, which I wish I were more successful at arranging,  I occasionally have made other kinds of matches. Some matches have

Watch and listen to the song by Zevi Kaufman which was written in honor of Siyum HaShas 2020.  

“Great launch of @SCP_Learning at the Yeshiva in Phoenix this week, a packed house!” read a Nov. 1 tweet from Jeremy Rovinsky. “All kinds of observant Jews — Litvish, Chabad, Modern, Sefardi, Bucharian — coming together to master Hilchos Shabbos! #SCPrevolution.” In November, Phoenix became one of 28 new locations for the Orthodox Union’s Semichas

There’s something about Yachad that makes people keep coming back to it. Yachad is the Orthodox Union-run organization that provides programs, services, advocacy, support, and love to people with disabilities and their families. You would think that its work, while worthy, is unglamorous, and that its pull would be more to a volunteer’s obligation than

Even if you haven’t seen it, there’s a very good chance you’ve read about it. I’m referring, of course, to the now-infamous Peloton commercial. In the ad, a man surprises his wife with a Peloton stationary bike for Christmas. The woman is elated and starts chronicling her fitness journey with daily cell-phone videos. At the

There is nothing like a death sentence hanging over one’s head to make havoc of one’s retirement plans. The call from my husband Abe came one autumn afternoon. “I got the results of the needle biopsy. I have cancer.” His words caused me to tremble.. In July of 2018, Abe suffered with a virus that

On a recent flight, I settled into my seat tired and hungry.  As one of those increasingly rare people who don’t mind airplane food, I eagerly awaited my meal.  When the flight attendant approached, I was disappointed to learn that they didn’t have my kosher meal, but I was even more disappointed by how flippant