New Engagement!

Aizik (ben Leibel) Baumgarten (East Hampton, LI) and Musia Goldman (Crown Heights)

L’Chaim tonight, Sunday at the Jewish Children’s Museum
792 Eastern Pkwy [corner Kingston Ave]

Mazal Tov's View More

Op-Ed: Why I had Almost Given Up on Chumash

by Shaina Guzick

When I was becoming more interested in Judaism, I learned that the word “Torah” comes from the word “hora’ah,” meaning to teach, to instruct. I was taught this meant that each day’s Torah portion had a vital lesson for our daily lives, even in this contemporary world. Frankly, I didn’t buy it.

Christopher Hitchens: The Fall of a Worthy Adversary

by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

A journalist friend of mine emailed me at 1am Friday morning to tell me that Christopher Hitchens had died. The news brought with it a deep sadness and I instantly recited the Jewish prayer upon hearing of the passing of a friend, “Blessed is the true Judge.” That instinctive religious action captured the paradox of our unpredictable friendship, born in battle in four public debates – stretching from 2004 until 2010 – on G-d, faith, evolution, and religion, but solidified over food at kosher restaurants, kosher wines, and, of course, healthy swigs of whisky.

A Store Where Toys Must Be Kosher

NY Times

Double Play Toys, in the largely Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park, operates with the kind of self-policing that few toy stores in other neighborhoods can match. It does not carry Batman and Spider-Man action figures because they encourage violence and the watching of television.

in this toy store, Batman and Spider-Man are not heroes. For one thing, said Barbara Shine, manager of Double Play Toys in Borough Park, Brooklyn, the characters encourage interest in television, and the Orthodox Jewish families who make up her clientele do not watch television. More important, those toys might also teach lessons Hasidic parents don’t want their children to learn.

Senate Majority Leader Lights Menorah with Chabad

WASHINGTON, DC [CHI] — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada welcomed West Coast Chabad’s Rabbi Chaim Nochum Cunin and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Cunin for a pre-Chanukah celebration in the Lyndon B. Johnson Room of the United States Capitol. The Senator joined Chabad in a symbolic lighting of the center “Shamash” candle on the Menorah.

5 Sholom Zochors This Week!

Dovid Nissan and Tzivia (nee Gorkin) Jacobs
1490 Union St. [between Kingston and Albany Ave.]

J.J. and Shaina (nee Klappholz) Katz
1276 President St. [between Brooklyn and New York Ave.]

Yudi and Devory (nee Greenwald) Steiger
522 Maple St. [between Kingston and Brooklyn Ave.]

Mendel and Yochi Scheiman
770 Empire Blvd. [between Troy and Schenectady Ave.] Apt. 5L

Sholom and Mushky (nee klein) Kass