According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese, medical costs in 2008 related to obesity were $147 billion and obese people spent $1429 more than normal weight people on health issues. “Unfortunately, in the Jewish community, obesity is not addressed,” said Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Mercy Medical Center. He noted that Mercy has a “very comprehensive” bariatric, or weight-loss, surgery program that has done 3000 procedures since it opened in 2003 with over 125 done per year. more

Felicia and Mark Bernstein of Woodmere, New York celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of their son Sammy in Israel at the Zikkim army base near Ashkelon. The Succos celebration which was coordinated by The International Young Israel movement’s Ruby Davidman Torah Scrolls for the IDF project symbolized their love of Torah, the State of Israel and the brave soldiers of the IDF. more

A new Jewish camp is slated to open its doors in the summer of 2014, but it might be a little different from the summer camps that many of us remember. Unlike the Sloppy-Joes-and-tetherball camps from days of yore, Camp Zeke will offer gourmet cuisine and a personalized schedule focused on active living and culinary arts. more

Just when I thought I had heard every adventure about my husband’s youth, he came up with another one over the weekend. While sitting around our dining room table with good friends, he recalled a weekend, long ago, at a hotel in the Catskills. more

Of all the Biblical heroes, those we might call the “good guys,” Noach gets the worst rap. When we are first introduced to him, we are told he was a tzaddik (righteous man) “in his generation.” Rashi famously pounces on the added term, suggesting that he was a good guy in his generation alone, but had he lived in the generation of Avraham, he would not have been a person of significance. more

By the time of this printing we’re (hopefully, safely!) home sweet home, back to our New York family, after a dozen stops around Israel. We are now processing, regrouping, recollecting and washing piles of post-trip laundry. Since that tedium is not fit for print, instead I hope you’ll indulge my descriptions of our post Sukkot travels, the last leg of our trip. more

This year HAFTR Middle School implemented the Olweus Bully Prevention Program. Last year, the HAFTR Olweus Bully Prevention Coordinating Committee, composed of administrators, support staff, teachers, and parents underwent an intensive two day workshop given by a certified Olweus trainer. This September, the Committee provided an intensive one-day training for all HAFTR Middle School Staff. more

He looked like a teenager, until he began to tell his story, and then his face took on a sadness that aged him…. Avi (not his real name) had only recently finished his regular army stint in the IDF, and was due to fly to South Africa as part of a very special educational mission to work with less-affiliated Jewish teens in South Africa. more

With the world swirling around us with the turmoil of violence and murder, all at the behest of governments and their terrorist surrogates, it behooves us to take a close look at the biblical saga of the Tower of Babel and its role, in antiquity, as the harbinger of the totalitarian rule that has become commonplace today. This week’s essay will be devoted to reviewing several works that deal with this theme from our religious perspective. more

To the Editor: Rabbi Avi Billet’s column of October 12, 2012, “The Crouching Sin,” is one of the most courageous and meaningful columns I have seen in a long time. more