The accurate portrayal of history can be a daunting task. This is especially so when the subject is faith based and dependent upon sacred literature as the source of events and personalities which are central to a faith’s historical core. more

Calendar for the week of Nov 11, 2011 more

For Orthodox girls seeking to inspire through song and arts, options appear limited by modesty guidelines, limited to singing and dancing before other women. Last month, the Tzohar Seminary for Chassidus and the Arts opened in Pittsburgh, directed by Amy Gordon Guterson, seeking to hone the talents of young Orthodox women. “Tzohar Seminary, like a window, will let in the light of creativity into the students’ lives,” said Guterson. “Together with learning chassidus and their sense of purpose, the students’ G-d given talents will shine out the beauty of Torah to the world in a new way.” more

At 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Mayer Gold, the owner of Seasons kosher supermarket in Cedarhurst, received a call from Moshe Ratner, the general manager of Gourmet Glatt Emporium, informing him of a fire at Gourmet Glatt, with deliveries that needed a place to go. Without hesitation Gold jumped in to help. Glatt’s deliveries went to Seasons and nearly 20 Gourmet Glatt employees are currently working at Seasons, alongside Seasons’ employees and Seasons will remain open to midnight Thursday to accommodate shoppers. more

Have you ever woken up in a panic wondering where you are and what day it is? You wake up and frantically look around at your surroundings trying to remember where you are and what you’re doing there – as if you should really be somewhere else! That’s how I experienced last month on my travels. more

The prophet Malachi presents a scenario when the G-d-fearing public presents its goodness to G-d, in contrast to the wicked who felt it was worthless to serve G-d. “At that time, the God-fearing people spoke to one another. G-d listened and heard, and a scroll of remembrance was written at His command concerning those who fear God and those who meditate on His Name.” (Malachi 3:16) more

There are very few feelings in life that leave us more challenged, hurt, and insecure, than the feeling we get from being ignored. Part of this may stem from the fact that we need to feel we have what to contribute, to give back to society and the world. Indeed our ability to be in touch with what we have to give is the essence of connecting with our purpose in this world. So when someone completely ignores us, perhaps we wonder whether we really have as much to offer as we think we do. more

Some of my friends criticize me because they believe I am too hard on President Barack Obama. They say they can’t believe that there is not one of his policies which I support wholeheartedly. Even a broken clock is right two times a day they say, isn’t there one policy where you can say, “Lets help Obama on this one?” And I would reach down to the bottom of my soul and really try to come up with something, but I always failed. more

It appears that as hard as President Barack Obama struggles to preserve his image as a supporter of Israel, the truth continues to leak out. Following his defense of Israel at the United Nations, the boost Obama received in the polls among Jews, was jeopardized by Vice President Joe Biden’s harsh dismissal of clemency appeals for convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Nonetheless, the president values the support of the Jewish community, and recently appointed likeable Long Island native Jarrod Bernstein as his liaison to the Jewish community. more

I love Kosherfest, and this year record crowds packed the sold-out Meadowlands venue. The aisles were quite literally choked with people and vendors were feeling edgy because of the people who were “over sampling” and stealing products right off of tables. If you are fortunate enough to get into Kosherfest, please behave yourself. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us. After being shoved one too many times I managed to finally get to the best and newest products at Kosherfest 2011. Here are a few: more