Before its exposition of the holidays and their respective sacrificial offerings, the Torah gives us its only reversal of the most repeated verse in the Torah. Normally it says “And G-d spoke to Moshe saying.” Here it says “And Moshe spoke to G-d saying.” more

I am not going to write about the wars, the troops, the president, Congress, Iraq, Iran, al-Qaeda, global warming, gas prices, hybrid cars and carbon footprints. more

Dear Aviva, I’ve been friends with someone for the past 20 years. We grew up near each other and were in school together from elementary all the way to college. Now that we both have our own families, I am realizing more and more that she is (and has always been) a very jealous and negative person. She never seems to actually care about me or what I’m going through. I don’t even know why she’s kept up the connection this long. If I first met her at this point in my life, I probably would avoid her. Am I stuck with her just because there is a history? And is there any good way to cut ties without enraging her? more

The most precious and costly commodity in Manhattan is space. Because of this spatial deficiency, even some of the city’s finest restaurants are no more than glorified nooks. The expense is simply too great for most establishments to maintain, especially in certain neighborhoods where the cost of space borders on excessive. So when I say to you that Milk Street Cafe, the new kosher restaurant located at 40 Wall Street, takes up no less then 23,000 square feet, it should tell you in no uncertain terms how seriously owner Marc Epstein takes the business of building a successful restaurant. more

Calendar for the week of July 15, 2011 more

The Chabad of Oceanside has a home and it opens immediately. Purchased on June 30, the 17,000-square-foot building will serve a variety of programs for the 11-year-old Chabad outpost. more

The festival of Sukkot was around the corner, and I realized I had no way to get a set of four species (arbah minim) in time for the festival. We were actually in Lebanon at the time, and as the only kippah-wearing soldier on the base, I knew I was on my own, and the thought of having no set of ‘arbah minim’ was really depressing. more

This coming July 29, the 27th day of Tammuz, will mark the first yahrtzeit of one of the most brave, dynamic and prominent spiritual and moral leaders in our time, Rabbi Yehuda Amital, of blessed memory. more

The 2012 Election is still sixteen months away, but the discussions about whether President Obama will be able to retain the same large portion of the Jewish vote as he did in 2008 remains an obsession with the mainstream media. more

On July 9, flags fluttered and military bands marched though the dust-covered streets of Juba, capital of South Sudan, the world’s newest recognized independent nation. Among the messages of congratulation, the Israeli message spoke of full cooperation, while hinting at the social and economic ties between the two states. more