Let’s get this straight - the summer isn’t over yet, not today nor tomorrow. It doesn’t end when the kids return home from camp or when you begin back to school shopping. It doesn’t stop with school orientations or Rosh Hashanah preparations. more

The goal of Jewish education is not only to educate for life, but also to arm Jewish students with the knowledge to grow themselves, protect themselves, and have a positive influence on the world around us. A new program in its pilot year is tackling a part of this education: the “need to begin Israel education and advocacy training at an earlier age,” stressed Tahli Hanuka, the East Coast High School Programs Coordinator for the Stand With Us MZ Teens Internship. more

Our underlined phrase, “you shall judge your fellow with righteousness,” is found in the second of the two parshiot we read this Shabbat. As noted in Talmud Bavli, Shevuot 30a, one of the interpretations of this expression is the obligation to judge our fellow Jews in a favorable fashion: “Our Rabbis taught: ‘You shall judge your fellow with righteousness’ - judge your neighbor to the side of merit (Hevay dan et chaverchah l’kaf zechut).” more

Remember when buying a cup of coffee meant … buying a cup of coffee. Sure you had a choice of what type, regular or decaf; skim or regular milk; sugar or sugar substitute, and hot or iced. Then came the flavored coffee creamers, followed by flavored coffees. You could have made it at home, or bought it at a luncheonette, candy shop or coffee shop, which was basically a mini restaurant that served breakfast and lunch along with coffee. Today, coffee is no longer just coffee. more

As the enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act gets underway, Achiezer has been fielding many questions. Dozens of families have already been successfully enrolled in the system, as Achiezer’s insurance staff were from the first in state to successfully train and learn these new programs; approximately 90 percent have already come away with significant savings. As resident health insurance expert, Achiezer Health Insurance Coordinator Sruly Miller gives us the lowdown on what we can expect. more

For most Jews in the United States, hunting laws are not a concern. more

Two well-known contemporary rabbis. Two prolific authors. Two personal journeys. One Rebbe. Rabbis Joseph Telushkin and Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz have come out with new volumes on “the Rebbe,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, 20 years after the death of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement’s seventh and final leader. more

Rabbi Hershel Billet discussed how to appropriately encourage a recalcitrant spouse to deliver a get, and voiced support for the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA), at a parlor meeting in Woodmere on motzei Shabbat. more

Jabalya. Anyone who has been there has no desire to go back. A nasty piece of real estate in the Gaza strip, Jabalya is a densely overpopulated refugee camp that is always waiting to explode, … more

Tetzaveh, this week’s parsha, ends with a seemingly out of place description of the commandment for making the “mizbeach hazahav” (small altar), the golden, spice-burning … more