Author: David Rutman

Rejoice!  For now. The federal government is once more open for business—in whatever business it happens to be in every four years. We endured yet another civics lessons in arcane terms of congressional art like cloture, continuing resolutions and “nuclear options.” Republicans and Democrats couldn’t reach agreement on the amount of healthcare tax credits and […]

There’s no efficient way to describe a visit to the giant superstore Costco except to say it’s a giant superstore. But adjectives like “giant” and “super” feel lame when trying to convey the sensation of seeing under one roof an eyeglass prescription center, a bakery, a full assortment of apparel, appliances, watches, tires, flat screen […]

On Jul. 6, 1882, 14 young Russian Jews got off a boat in Jaffa. They were part of Bilu, one of the first groups to advocate a return to Zion. Bilu had been founded a few months earlier, in January. Amidst an environment of persecution and hate, they planned to return to the Jewish homeland […]

Ten months after the Palisades Fires destroyed the homes of many of the 934 families who comprise the 75-year-old community Kehillat Israel, in the heart of the Palisades, many remain dazed.  Senior Rabbi Amy Bernstein sought to explain where the close community is 300 days into the disaster.  “It starts to feel normal-ish,” she said, […]

Dear all, Earlier this week, my phone overheated. A message appeared on the screen: “iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it.” So I waited. Ten minutes later, it worked again. It struck me that sometimes our conversations are like that phone—too hot to handle. When emotions flare, communication shuts down. It happens in […]

As artificial intelligence and robotics reshape industries and daily life, will humans maintain their relevance? Machines excel in efficiency and calculation. But let’s hope there are irreplaceable aspects of the human experience — empathy, creativity and genuine connection — that technology cannot replicate despite the overwhelming profit motive to do so.  AI and robotics are […]

Start spreading the news I’m leaving today . . . Oh, sorry for the lyrical misdirection, but this version of the Frank Sinatra standard has the crooner fleeing New York! Hold onto those “vagabond shoes,” after all. Don’t jettison those “little-town blues,” just yet. New York might become the “city that doesn’t sleep” for more […]

Everything starts with a seed. Not just life, but vegetables, fruits, ideas and relationships Rachel Simons’ debut cookbook, “Sesame: Global Recipes + Stories of an Ancient Seed,” explores that metaphor through life, food, travel and history. For Simons, co-founder of popular tahini outfit Seed+Mill, based in New York City’s iconic Chelsea Market, seeds have taken […]

What sets Rabbi Elchanan Shoff apart from his colleagues and predecessors is his unquenchable desire to find out everything about everything. As a teacher for boys and girls at Valley Torah High School in Valley Village, Shoff has discovered a two-pronged approach that benefits both his students and himself. “A lot of my job is […]