There is no end to the commentaries on the Book of Esther, and this year’s pick by me that follows is not the last word. However, Rabbi David Fohrman’s teachings are worth your attention and patronage. more

Kindergarten students at HANC’s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School, in West Hempstead, had a wonderful trip to the Long Island Children’s Museum. more

HAFTR Administrators participated in the 2014 iJED (Innovation in Jewish Education) Conference at the Marriott in Uniondale to learn more about the best and latest practices in teaching and learning. more

Binyamin Ze’ev Markovich, age 4, of Cedarhurst, was joined by his Savta Chana Aharoni, visiting from Bat Yam, Israel, to celebrate Family Day in Gan Chamesh at the Chabad of the Five Towns preschool. more

Students at HANC’s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Early Childhood Center and Elementary School, in West Hempstead, are getting ready for Purim. more

Achiezer wants good megilah readers! more

And so, it was Oscar time again. I really shouldn’t have watched it live, as I had not yet finished my column that was due the next morning. I told myself I would just watch the opening monologue as I love Ellen DeGeneres. All of a sudden, it hit me, I could write about the Oscars, and tie it in with a recipe. more

PBS is providing a fair and even-handed view of Israel this week, as noted travel news journalist Peter Greenberg tours Israel with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on “Israel: The Royal Tour.” more

In his Yizkor sermon on Yom Kippur 1963 (“Body and Soul”), Rabbi Norman Lamm introduced a fascinating idea in the name of Rabbi Moshe Avigdor Amiel. Before Avraham, humans were referred to as basar (literally “humans” or “flesh”) — “Man shall leave his father and mother, and cling to his wife so they may become one basar (human/flesh).” “And all the basar (humans) died [in the flood].” more

Sometimes, heroes are the most ordinary people, who rise to the most extraordinary occasions. Like Noam Apter. more