The Jewish Star staff welcomes Anna Hardcastle as our intern. Anna was born in London, grew up in Valley Stream and is a sophomore at North Shore Hebrew Academy, where she edits the North Shore Notes newsletter. When Anna is not practicing journalism, she reads up on horror novels and seeks to become a teen horror fiction author. We are looking forward to her reporting and editing on our pages. more

The first Tisha B’Av memory is the incident of the spies, which set in stone the concept of a “b’khiya l’dorot” – a date on which all future generations will have reason to cry. (Taanit 29a) more

Norman stood in front of his home as he did for over 40 years. This time something was different. He looked at the house and a feeling came over him. It was incomplete. After almost a half century of raising four children, paying taxes, and helping his community, he felt his residence needed an accessory. “Norman, after all these years what’s got into you?” more

In a few days we observe the fast of Tisha B’Av, mourning the loss of the two Jerusalem Temples. The Talmud tells us the cause of the Second Temple’s destruction was senseless hatred and political insults. A man threw a party and intended to invite his good friend Kamtza. His servant erred, mistakenly invited the host’s enemy, Bar Kamtza. This led to the insulting of Bar Kamtza, his slandering of the Jewish people to Caesar, and Bar Kamtza’s wounding of an animal Caesar sent to the Temple as a peace offering. The sacrifice was rejected as unfit, which Caesar took as a political insult and rebellious move so he invaded, resulting in the destruction of the Holy Temple. more

Temple Israel’s long-delayed plan to sell a portion of its property to the Peninsula Public Library could be reaching its conclusion, as the Lawrence synagogue has a Nassau County Supreme Court hearing on its subdivision application scheduled Aug. 9. more

More than pleasure, fame, or fortune, man wants to leave his “mark” on the world. In fact if you Google this term, you will find hundreds if not thousands of self help books and articles on how to achieve self worth and how to leave your “mark.” more

Calendar for the week of Aug. 5, 2011 more

They officially converted to Catholicism a half millennium ago, but a combination of discrimination, geographic isolation, and persistence kept the approximately 18,000 Xuetas of Mallorca as a distinct ethnic community, Jewish by ancestry, but not in practice. On July 11, Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, a leading halachic authority in Israel, recognized the Xuetas as Jewish, in no need of conversion. more

As the temperature reached one 100F last Friday, my air conditioning was working overtime to keep my apartment at a livable 76F. In order to avoid straining the machine, my wife Chaia decided it would be best to utilize only the toaster oven and the outdoor grill to make our Shabbat meal. more

When planning a summer trip, Uganda is a less common destination than, say, Florida or Israel. But for Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky and Dr. Ari Greenspan, a trip visiting Jewish communities throughout East Africa was nothing out of the ordinary. more