A number of years ago, I met a fellow with whom I struck up a friendship, over Pesach, and I discovered he was a Holocaust survivor who had been first in the Janowska road camp and later in Auschwitz. Towards the end of the week, I summoned up the nerve to ask him if there was anything in particular that stood out in his mind as the reason he had survived. Without hesitation, he responded: “It was one mitzvah: the Sukkot I spent in Auschwitz.” more

A local synagogue has issued a warning to be aware of potential carbon monoxide hazards when leaving a flame lit without proper ventilation over the three day Yom Tov (holiday). more

This week, we got our sukkahs out of hiding, bought our lulavim and etrogim and those new Yom Tov fall/winter outfits (clothes that we won’t be able to wear yet, although we’ll certainly spot one or two women suffering through the heat in their suede or fur trimmed suits, all in the name of fashion … come on, you’ve been there once or twice). And then there is the planning for not one, but two, three-day Yomim Tovim. And we will eat, till it’s time to eat again — all six meals, all three days, both Yomim Tovim. more

“Sukkah City,” a film documenting a competition of innovative sukkot, will be shown in Manhattan this Sunday, Sept. 22, at the the site of the original display of the sukkot in Union Square Park. The film begins as a jury considers the more than 600 international design submissions in the contest originated by author Joshua Foer and Roger Bennett, co-chairman of the Jewish cultural organization Reboot. more

They bring joy and laughter into a world of suffering and pain. At age 10, the Five Towns-based “compassionate medical clowning” troupe called Lev Leytzan (Hebrew for “Heart of a Clown”) is launching its annual recruitment drive in October. “We are a professional medical clown organization,” explained its founder and executive director, Neal Goldberg, Ph.D. “It’s a chesed organization with professional training.” more

It’s been a gruesome ten months since the Young Israel of Oceanside was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. The devastation, including the ruin of three Sifrei Torah, took out most of the building with the exception of the Bet Midrash, located on the second floor. The members have been literally squeezing into the minimal space of the Bet Midrash every Shabbos and Yom Tov in order to daven as a kehilla. more

Among the followers of Rebbe Elimelech MeLizensk (1717-1787) was a man who said he was a chassid, but did not act like one. He perceived that he had made many mistakes in his younger years was ridden with guilt, and sentenced himself to an ascetic life. Determined to become a baal teshuvah (penitent), he deprived himself of nourishment, just tasting enough to keep body and soul alive, fasting every Monday and Thursday, flagellated himself and undertook dangerous tasks. He thought that this ascetic lifestyle would atone for his wrongdoing. more

Holocaust memoirs and eyewitness testimony record how Jews living under Nazi rule repeatedly took extraordinary risks to mark Yom Kippur in some way. Despite the grave dangers involved, and even though Jewish law permits eating or performing labor on the Day of Atonement to save one’s life, many Jews endured unimaginable suffering to commemorate the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. more

During the Holocaust years, there was only one march in Washington to plead with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to rescue Europe’s Jews. As the 70th anniversary of that remarkable demonstration approaches, the protest is finally gaining mainstream recognition in the Jewish community. more