NJOP – A History
It all began in December 1975, when Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald, then the Educational Director at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, launched the now acclaimed "Beginners Service." As…
Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America
In the year 1912, there was no state of Israel, women had not yet earned the right to vote in the U.S., and Henrietta Szold (Baltimore 1860 - Jerusalem 1945) was inspiring Jewish women…
Konrad Zegota – Saving Lives
Have you heard of Konrad Zegota, responsible for saving thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Not a who?, but a what?, Konrad Zegota was the code name for The Council for Aid to…
Lighting The Way To Peace
The very last act performed before bringing Shabbat into the home is the lighting of the Shabbat candles. While this mitzvah is considered one of the three primary mitzvot of a Jewish…
Ushpeezin (Oo’shpee’zin)
During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our second home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah…
Anne Frank’s Diary
In 1952, Doubleday released the American edition of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. For many Americans, the contents of the book were a disturbing introduction to the horrific…
How Pharaoh Enslaved The Israelites
While reading the Book of Exodus, one might wonder at the swift descent of the Jewish nation from being the privileged family of the Viceroy, Joseph, to becoming downtrodden and abused…
The Bread of the Sabbath
Challah, known to some as "Jewish bread," is one of the essential elements of the Shabbat table. Each of the three Shabbat meals begins with the blessing over two loaves of Challah, which…
Ushpeezin (oo’shpee’zin)
During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our second home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah…
The Missing Ark
Mention the Ark of the Covenant and most people think of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the 1981 movie starring Harrison Ford. The real Ark of the Covenant, created concurrently with the other…