A new application for Facebook provides three added levels of protection for users and may be helpful specifically for parents of teen users. more

“Taglit.” It is the Hebrew word for “discovery.” Therefore, it is no coincidence that the name of the program that has sent nearly 300,000 Jewish young adults to Israel since 2000 is called “Taglit-Birthright Israel.” This program encourages its participants, many visiting Israel for the first time, to discover new things about their Jewish identity and explore connections with their religion. more

A part of a grass roots effort begun 11 years ago is coming to the Five Towns August 12th, calling for volunteers to come to the Kiddush room at Congregation Anshei Chesed in Hewlett to fill back packs with school supplies for disadvantaged children. more

With Tu Bav approaching, a holiday that recalls the lifting of restrictions of marriage between the tribes of Bnai Yisrael, among other things, a meeting on improving marriage seems appropriate. Last Sunday, fifty married couples attended a joint program of the SHALOM Workshop, the National Council of Young Israel and the Young Israel of West Hempstead, “Making Good Marriages Great!” Each of the two speakers “gave the couples an exercise on communication skills,” said Bonnie Kupchik, co-sisterhood president of YIWH. “It was extremely effective across all age ranges.” more

It was just about two weeks ago that we woke to news stories on radio and television about anti-Israel ads that were posted in train stations along commuter routes to New York City. In a slow news week, many news stations covered the “outrage” over what the Anti-Defamation League referred to as the “deliberately misleading and biased” messages that graphically demonstrated how Israel has been consuming “Palestine” since 1948. These ads were the work of a wealthy ex-Wall Street financier, Henry Clifford, who is now the chairman of The Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine. more

In a sobering show of mourning and respect, the main shul of Shaarey Tefilah in Lawrence was filled to standing room only with men and women for a series of eulogies for Maran Hagaon Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l, this past Monday night. more

I took a break from Holocaust books for one about shtetl life in the Pale of Settlement where Cossacks reigned. Next on my list is a book about Herod, Rome and the Jews. more

Beloved by his entire generation and revered for his incredible knowledge of Torah, he was given the chance to get out of 1939 Poland; safe passage to America had been secured and a new life was waiting and ready for him and his entire family. more

The book of Devarim begins (1:12-18) with Moshe reminding the people of how, when the Law was first given, he was unable to personally deal with every dispute. At the time, he appointed a tier system of judges over specific population sizes to work with the people. Moshe would serve, in a sense, as the equivalent of the Supreme Court (sans the politics), as the highest arbiter of the law, whose decisions are final. more

July 27 and on Mangano Announces Weekday Golf Specials at Nassau County’s 9-Hole Golf Courses Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced today that all four of Nassau County’s 9-hole golf courses will be offering a special weekday discount. Conveniently spread around the county park system, Nassau offers residents four executive-level 9 hole golf courses at Cantiague Park, Christopher Morley, North Woodmere, and Bay Park. more