In Uniform

The role played by dress codes is a topic that, every few years, sparks discussion and debate. Whether the question is school uniforms or the influence of “casual Friday,” people usually…

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Passover 5760-2000

"The Passover Seder–Focus on the Children" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald As is the practice on all Shabbatot that coincide with Jewish holidays, the Torah portion for this coming Shabbat is…

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Yom Hashoah 5762-2002

"Reflections on The Holocaust" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Yom Hashoah is observed on the 27th of Nisan, which this year will be on Monday evening, April 8 and Tuesday, April 9. I have…

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Green Jews

Aside from Senator Bernie Sanders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield – aka “Ben and Jerry’s” – people normally do not associate the Green Mountain State with Jews. Although some scholars…

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Learning the Truth of Your Heritage at Age 59: The Amazing Story of Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright broke a glass ceiling when she became the first woman U.S. Secretary of State on January 23, 1997. A few weeks later, at age 59, Madeleine learned that her parents,…

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Of Shamrocks, Snails and Survivors: the life of Rabbi Isaac Herzog

Rabbi Isaac Herzog, the State of Israel’s first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi, passed away, at age 70, on this date - the 19th of Tammuz – sixty years ago, in 1959, corresponding to July 25th.…

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Mission Impossible

If you were to search the famous “Hollywood Walk of Fame” in Los Angeles, for a star with the name “Solomon Krakovsky,” you would be on a mission impossible. Solomon Krakovsky, who…

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Splitting the Atom

When asked to name a theoretical physicist, the first name to come to many young Americans would be “Sheldon Cooper,” the fictional lead character on the long-running hit show, “Big Bang…

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Keeping Ethical

Pirkei Avot is commonly translated as Ethics of Our Fathers because many of its statements focus on ethical behavior. For those striving to be ethical, “Nittai the Arbelite says:…

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Before They Knew Viral

Martha Wollstein, whose parents were Jewish immigrants from Germany, began her medical education when she was 16 years old. The Women’s Medical Society of the State of New York was also…

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