To the Editor: After reading article after article in the local papers about the JCC’s attempt to purchase the #6 School from District 15, I feel it is time to set the record straight. more

Recently, major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson and his wife, each gave $250,000 to a new independent super PAC, called the Patriot Prosperity PAC, created to help elect New Jersey Rabbi Shmuley Boteach to Congress. more

With the conventions behind us and about 50 days left, the candidates are looking to garner whatever swing voters they can to firm up the election. Not surprising, Florida is a swing state, and appealing to Jewish voters there is pivotal to an election victory. more

There are two mitzvoth for which we know the reward; the reward of “long life” is promised for shiluach ha’kan (sending a mother bird from her nest before collecting her eggs) and kibud av va’em (honoring one’s father and mother). more

I remember the first Mishnah I ever learned, and it wasn’t in a classroom. (The Mishnah is the basic text of the oral tradition, as codified and edited by rabbi Yehuda Ha’Nasi circa 200 C.E.) The synagogue we attended when I was five years old had a strict decorum, and I recall the challenges this presented to my parents; vague images of my red-faced and embarrassed father carrying me out of synagogue kicking and screaming come to mind. more

Nechama Leibowitz was fond of teaching her students to find the “milah mancha” – a shoresh (root noun or verb), word or phrase that appears numerous times in a given section. In Parshat Ki Tavo, a surprising “milah mancha” is the root of the word “simcha,” meaning joy. While the word only appears in three contexts, each instance brings its own set of immeasurable valuable lessons. more

In a recent essay, scholar Dr. Israel Drazin made the following observation: “Many rabbis write books based on Torah verses, which they use as a backdrop for their ideas about contemporary society and the application of what they consider moral principles to various modern problems.” more

Back to school, those dreaded three words....to kids, that is. Most parents can be seen dancing in the streets come the first day of school. Of course we, as parents, deal with all the issues leading up to the first day of school. Will our kids be with their friends? Will they have the best teacher? Will the kid that tormented them last year, hopefully, be put in another class? more

I’ve been very teary this week, reacting strongly to beginnings and ends. I’ve felt my heart expand with joy and also break a little with sadness. There are airport arrivals and departures, the start of adventures, the end of an era, loved ones leaving while others return. more

To the Editor: In his predictable criticism of the statistically insignificant number of Rabbis for Obama who are on the board of Jewish Voice for Peace (an anti-Israel group) and those who are members of Rabbis for Human Rights (a pro two-state solution group that, unlike Jeff, has actually gone into Palestinian areas in West Bank to do their work, but never mind), Jeff wonders aloud how many more on the list he can smear. more