Tahitian breezes blew through Brooklyn Heights last Wednesday night: Fresh fish and Polynesian chicken were being served under an authentic grass Tiki hut; palm trees dotted the room; and visions of pristine, blue-and-tan beaches graced the walls. An indoor mirage? No, a Modern Orthodox synagogue, Congregation B’nai Avraham, was celebrating the 13th anniversary of its mikvah, the ritual Jewish bath whose history goes back thousands of years. more

Remember when buying a cup of coffee meant … buying a cup of coffee. Sure you had a choice of what type, regular or decaf; skim or regular milk; sugar or sugar substitute, and hot or iced. Then came the flavored coffee creamers, followed by flavored coffees. You could have made it at home, or bought it at a luncheonette, candy shop or coffee shop, which was basically a mini restaurant that served breakfast and lunch along with coffee. Today, coffee is no longer just coffee. more

Almost 70 years after the Holocaust and 50 years after Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations, a textbook commission is shedding light on how the two countries are promoting their sustained cultural and historical connection. more

This week’s portion, Re’eh, begins with Moshe’s dramatic presentation of the blessings and the curses, which seem at first glance to be all about the rewards and punishments that await us when we enter the land of Israel, just across the Jordan river: “Re’eh anochi noten lifneichem hayom brachah u’klalah…“See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. more

There are six remembrances that are included in the siddur at the end of Shacharis. Remembering the Exodus, Shabbos, G-d’s presence at Mt. Sinai, what happened to Miriam, how you provoked G-d in the desert, and to destroy Amalek. This list does not include all the times the word zachor (to remember) appears in the Torah. more

After calling the ruling an atrocity on his MSNBC program, Al Sharpton wants the federal government to act. “There are grounds for civil rights charges here,” he said on Meet the Press, adding, “There would never have been protests if there had been an arrest and if the police department there did what it was supposed to do.” Despite Reverend Al’s protestations, local police did do their job. After examining all the evidence, police believed Zimmerman’s story. more

There’s a “new” star author on the scene named Robert Galbraith. The writer, who the publisher, Little Brown, described as “a former plainclothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry,” debuted with a detective novel about the suicide of a supermodel called “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” more

WASHINGTON — Sam Bain knew that life could be dangerous in southern Israel, with rockets fired indiscriminately across the border from Gaza. But it wasn’t until the Ohio college student visited an Israeli day care center near the Gaza border that the reality truly hit him. This day care center was a bomb-safe facility. “We don’t have bomb-safe day care centers in America,” Bain told JNS.org. “It was almost a wake-up call” about the reality of life in Israel, he said. more

He’s low-key, reassuring and rabbinic, speaks easily to his charges and could easily be one of them, as he brings North American Jews closer to geulah [redemption]. In ten years, through Nefesh B’Nefesh, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, along with Tony Gelbart, has succeeded in moving 35,000 Jews along the path to accomplish their dream of living in Israel. more

Among the most consistent liturgical works on the Jewish calendar is the twice daily recitation of Psalm 27, beginning next week, heralding the upcoming high holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Succos. more