Howard Kopel is running for his second term as county legislator of the 7th Legislative District, which covers Cedarhurst, Inwood, Hewlett, Lawrence and Woodmere, South Valley Stream, Oceanside, Island Park and portions of East Rockaway and Bay Park. The Lawrence resident was elected in 2009 after defeating incumbent Jeff Toback. He is being challenged by Adam Moser, a Democrat from Hewlett. Moser is a former district court judge, who has a Rockville Centre legal practice. more

There was once a time when mainstream American Orthodoxy was defined by the Hertz Chumash, the Birnbaum siddur and books by the Jewish Publication Society. In recent years, the rise of Haredi publishing house Artscroll, the expansion of newspapers Hamodia and Yated Ne’eman, and magazines such as Ami and Mishpacha, have changed the image of print in the Orthodox community. Dr. Yoel Finkelman of Bar Ilan University chronicles the development of English-language haredi publications in his book “Strictly Kosher Reading,” released over the summer. Dr. Finkelman was raised in Detroit and made aliyah in 1993. He resides in Beit Shemesh. more

By Michael Orbach James Kugel is the author of “In the Valley of the Shadow” and “How to Read the Bible.” A former chair of Near Eastern Languages at Harvard, Kugel is now the chair of the … more

Daniel Gordis is the author of “Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End.” He is the senior vice president of the Shalem Center in Israel and has rabbinic ordination … more

Howard Jacobson is the author of “The Finkler Question,” a novel that won the prestigious 2010 Man Booker prize. We spoke with him about the book and what it’s like to be one of the premier … more

Dan Ariely is the author of “The Upside of Irrationality.” Michael Orbach: So what exactly do you study? Dan Ariely: I study something called behavior economics, which is a mixture of … more

By Michael Orbach This year, seven students from Yeshiva University High Schools will be participating in a new independent study Hebrew literature course where they will be mentored by a renowned … more

Eishes Chayil is the pseudonymous author of “Hush,” a young-adult novel about sexual abuse inside the Jewish community.The Jewish Star: What motivated you to write this book?Eishes … more