The New Year is approaching….   Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) is more than just a holiday; it is Judgment Day. The heavenly court will be deciding our destiny and determining our fate for the new year, so our wish for each other is that these days of reckoning go well, and that we...Read More

Food and Energy Let us look at the question, “why do you need to eat food?” from a deeper perspective. Most people (unfortunately) go about their daily routine of providing for their bodies what nature requires – eating, drinking, sleeping, etc. – without paying much attention to what these activities and functions mean on a...Read More

By Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz) This year (June 9,10) marks the 3331st anniversary of the Holiday of Shavuot, the day of the giving of the Torah by G‑d, is also called the day of the receiving of the Ten Commandments by Israel. And it would seem to be a natural pairing of concepts – the giving and the receiving being the...Read More

Bread is life. There are other components to the human diet, and technically we can subsist on other foods. But there is something about bread which marks it as the quintessential food, and as the metaphor for all that nourishes our existence. Yet for eight days and nights each spring, the Jewish home is transformed...Read More

There are two days of Purim each year: The 14th of Adar. (March 21st, 2019) The majority of Jews celebrate Purim on this day, and they have been doing so for about two and a half millennia. Reason: This is the day that the Jews rested from the battle against their enemies. The 15th of Adar. (March 22nd, 2019)...Read More

New York, NY…Kashrus agencies and certifying rabbis will gather for the annual AKO (Association of Kashrus Organizations) Convention on November 15th at the headquarters of the Orthodox Union in Lower Manhattan. According to Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, Exceutive Director of AKO, this year’s annual event is expected to draw well over 100 participants from all parts of...Read More

Our hearts are broken and saddened by the terrible and brutal murderous attack this past Saturday morning in Pittsburgh, PA. We mourn the 11 who were killed and pray for the injured for a full recovery. May G-d comfort their families and the entire Jewish nation. No words can describe the horror and evil. Jews...Read More

A few weeks ago, my six-year-old daughter did something that greatly upset one of my professional colleagues. At the same time, it made her father enormously proud. It happened when I took her to a television taping. While I answered questions, my daughter chatted with the show’s associate producer, a bright, capable TV veteran I’ve...Read More

The Bible states that “This may you eat of all that is in the waters: everything that has fins and scales, you may eat. But anything that has no fins and scales, you may not eat.” The Talmud states: “All [fish] that have scales also have fins [and are thus kosher]; but there are [fish] that have fins...Read More

The holiday of Shavuot is a two-day holiday, beginning at sundown of the 5th of Sivan and lasting until nightfall of the 7th of Sivan (May 19 – May 21, 2018). In Israel it is a one-day holiday, ending at nightfall of the 6th of Sivan. What Shavuot Commemorates The word Shavuot (or Shavuos) means...Read More