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

Dear Aviva, I’ve been married 3 months and have been trying to get my husband to come with me to therapy since we got engaged. He’s a very private person and refuses to talk to anyone about anything private in his life. We’ve had a few disagreements in the past and they always blow up into huge arguments. I really think therapy would help us figure out how to communicate better, but I can’t seem to get him to agree to go to one. Any ideas? Thanks. -Befuddled Bride more

I am happy to note and bring to your attention the latest volume in the Mitoch HaOhel series of essays by the staff of Yeshiva University, “From Within the Tent: The Haftarot,” published by Maggid / Koren Books. This comprehensive 700-page work contains a series of scholarly essays on every haftarah on the Jewish calendar, written exclusively by a distinguished group of rabbis and professors from Yeshiva University. What makes this particular work most relevant to our community is an essay written by Woodmere resident Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, dealing with some unique medical aspects relating to this coming week’s haftarah for Parshat Vayera. more

This past Sunday I was fortunate to experience an obvious case of Divine Providence: Chocolate! This was a result of my meeting Marvin Baum, director of Baum Image Group, a company dealing with high-tech digital imaging systems, which I encounter in my line of work as a radiologist. more

There was no safer place to be on this crisp Fall Sunday morning than Great Neck Synagogue. Top police brass from Nassau County Police Department, police union leadership, elected officials, and ‘everything law enforcement ‘came out in droves on Nov. 6 to honor the Nassau County Shomrim Society’s Man of the Year, Detective Lieutenant Gary Shapiro, at their annual breakfast. more

Incumbent County Legislator Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence) defeated Democrat Adam Moser of Hewlett in the race for the 7th Legislative District seat on Tuesday. The unofficial vote count was 6,229 to 4,205. “I’m glad that the people were able to see through the nastiness and disinformation,” said Kopel, who described the campaign as “ugly” and added that it was full of “lies and half-truths.” more