In these weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, there is a widely practiced custom to study Pirkei Avot--the Chapters or Ethics of the Fathers. Some even extend this practice until Rosh Hashana; instead of having one round of study, they complete Avot four times. more

With a batting average of .415, on base percent of .642 and an ERA of 3.2, you’d say this player is heading for the big leagues. He is, but he’s also heading to 4th grade…at HALB. At just 4’8” Jacob Steinmetz, 9, of Woodmere, has played baseball locally since he was in kindergarten. more

Comments by two friends of mine concerning the link between the recently deceased former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and the Jewish people prompts this week’s review; this time, a review of essays, not of books. more

This week’s portion, Re’eh, begins with Moshe’s dramatic presentation of the blessings and the curses, which seem at first glance to be all about the rewards and punishments that await us when we enter the land of Israel, just across the Jordan river: “Re’eh anochi noten lifneichem hayom brachah u’klalah…“See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. more

In the Torah, the city Beer Sheva appears thus named only one time (26:33). Otherwise it is always called Beer Shava. Seforno notes the difference between the vowelization of the two names of the city, while Ibn Ezra offers that when it is called Beer Sheva it might be for two reasons (based on an oath and the number seven) or, perhaps, it is a different (though similarly named) city. more

The HAFTR community turned out last motzei Shabbat to celebrate the school’s four educational leaders. more

Electoral upsets happen every so often in Nassau County. There was Republican Dan Frisa beating his party’s incumbent, David Levy, in 1994. Like Levy, Frisa became a one-term congressman after a challenger, Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, unseated him in 1996. more

Temple University has become the latest focal point for groups concerned about the spreading wave of campus antisemitism and academic-based Holocaust minimizing. more

How does the attack in Kehilat Bnei Torah in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood affect the Jewish state’s roughly 11,000 other synagogues, which in many areas can be found on virtually … more

Last night, as I have done since I was a kid, I viewed the Academy Awards ceremony on TV.  The Awards show, which first took place in 1929 in front of 250 people at the Hollywood Roosevelt … more