As the United States celebrates its 245-year-old freedom, the current climate is unfortunately rife with rising anti-semitism. As anti-semitic attacks – both physical and verbal – increase in this country (targeting Orthodox Jews most commonly, though not exclusively) let us remember on this Independence Day, the promise that was made to the Jews of the […]

Dolly Rabinovich survived Auschwitz and the Death March, but lost both of her parents and several siblings in the Holocaust. After the war, she moved to the States, got married and raised a Torah observant family. Her advice to our generation is simple. “Love your mother and your father, your sisters and brothers. Have faith […]

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once called Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel “a great prophet.” In the photo, Heschel presented King with the Judaism and World Peace Award. How did the leader of the civil rights movement come to form such a deep bond with an Orthodox Jewish rabbi? Heschel was a Polish-born American […]

As current events have the U.S. in a challenging  place, Torah guides us in how we to judge historical figures, like our founding fathers and others. Independence Day reminds us of the freedoms we can celebrate while living here. In previous years, we’ve explored where to catch a minyan in Colonial America, but this year, we […]

Rabbi Gabriel Negrin’s family has been in Greece for a very long time – since the 4th century BCE, to be exact. Negrin, who has been the rabbi of Athens since he was 26-years-old, explains that the Jewish community of Greece is called “Romaniot.” “I can trace our family background [directly] to the 11th century.”  […]

The ability to practice Judaism freely has existed since our nation’s founding. The Fourth of July, aka the birthday of the United States of America, is always a great occasion to remember our blessings in being able to live in the “Medina Shel Chesed.” If you happen to come by a time machine, here are […]