It seems that no matter what the topic, news story, fashion, rage, epic disaster or front headline, the tiny state of Israel can be found meandering through the narrative. With the case of the Norway massacre, the Jewish State went from having no part in the event, to offering condolences, to then finding itself front and center in an international debate. more

The Rockaway peninsula may be left with only one hospital, with Peninsula Hospital Center set to close in less than three months as it faces deep debt to its unionized workforce, receiving far less public reimbursement than it costs to treat uninsured patients. “Without a long-term solution that puts Peninsula Hospital Center on the path to fiscal recovery, an organized closure may be the only option,” said spokesman Ole Pedersen. more

Americans like to take credit for creating modern democracy. The notion that we the people would be ruled by the people for the people lay dormant for centuries, until the founding fathers of this nation expressed such an idea as their national goal of statehood. We would all be free, but subject to majority rule. Two hundred years later, it is still safe to say that democracies based on majority rule are the most successful economically, politically and socially, by any standard. more

Dedicated to the memory of my cousin Binyamin ben Daniel ve’Yehudit, Benji Hillman, hy”d, of blessed memory, a Company Commander in Golani’s elite Egoz unit who fell leading his men into battle in the Second Lebanon War on the 24th of Tammuz in the summer of 2006. more

So I board a Southwest Airlines plane in West Palm Beach to return to Long Island. Before we even pull away from the gate the pilot announces that due to lightening the ground crew cannot be outside and therefore there would be a delay. After one hour the pilot informs us that there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the lightning has stopped. more

The longtime Chabad shaliach to Mineola, Rabbi Anchelle Perl, is no stranger to contemporary events, often using them as a tool to promote Jewish observance. Following the cremation of British pop singer Amy Winehouse on July 26, Rabbi Perl used the news story to explain the halachic ban on cremation. “Cremation puts the traditional Jewish burial in grave danger,” Rabbi Perl said. “I have recently received too many calls to help stop a cremation.” more

Dear Aviva, My wife and I were planning on sending our son to an out-of-town yeshiva for ninth grade this September. He has always been socially anxious and has trouble making friends. We thought that going away would help him refine himself. He was not thrilled with the idea when we registered him, but now he expresses that he really doesn’t want to go. We don’t know what to do, because we think that he would benefit from having to make friends but we don’t want to have to fight him so much. He’s starting to cry to us almost everyday. What’s your take? -Freshie Father more

The recent visit to Cape Canaveral to witness the launch of the last space shuttle by a group of very talented students of Yeshiva Katana of Inwood and the publication of a new book dealing with that very subject will serve as the focus of this week’s review. In his new book, “Intergalactic Judaism” [Urim Publications, 2011] by Rabbi David Lister of the United Kingdom, the subject of the Jewish take on space travel and related activities and studies is dealt with in depth. more

In the history of mankind, rulers have often had the power over who will live and who will die. In some cases, one’s prison sentence might be linked indefinitely to the grudge of the ruling power, and reprieve might come about upon the latter’s death. Much would depend on the nature of the crime of which the individual stood accused, while in many cases, there may not have been a crime committed at all. more

When CNN gave Elliot Spitzer his own show, many complained engaging the disgraced former governor was a new low in cable news. But by hiring “Reverend” Al Sharpton as their 6pm host, MSNBC has smashed through CNN’s record, establishing a new low which may never be topped. With Sharpton, MSNBC contracted a man who’s incited two anti-Jewish pogroms, bears false witness against innocent people and is linked to the demise of at least eight innocent people. more