Author: David Rutman

Photo Credit: Jewish Press During my career as both a pulpit rabbi as well as a principal of a day school, I visited Israel many times. I led numerous tours and personally visited Israel to celebrate the bar mitzvahs and weddings of my children and my grandchildren. Each time I visited I was filled with […]

Photo Credit: pixabay Prepare yourself for a different kind of show this week. Ross shares with Jono the story of a beautiful synagogue in the town where he lives. He tells the story of Temple Sinai Synagogue, built in 1901, how he came to utilize the building for several years, the circumstances of his leaving, […]

Photo Credit: pixabay Celebrating her 100th show, Andrea shares insights from the Torah portion, Bereishit, first of the Five Books! In keeping with the ‘newness’ theme, ideas of how to keep the fresh feelings from the High Holy Days alive in our day-to-day dealings and thoughts. Advertisement <!– Publisher #16: JewishPress.com Zone #113: Comment Banner […]

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Photo Credit: Jewish Press The Torah relates (Bereishis 2:16-22) that Hashem created Adam HaRishon and placed him in Gan Eden, commanding him not to eat from the Eitz HaDaas. Hashem then brought all living creatures – male and female – before him and Adam assigned names to all of them. He noted, though, that he […]

Photo Credit: unsplash In December 2017, the “progressive” New York City Council passed the Counseling Censorship Law. The vote was: 43 for, 2 (both Orthodox Jews) against, and 1 abstention. In other words, it passed overwhelmingly! The law stated that if people (adults) came to a licensed therapist like me, and stated that they were […]

Photo Credit: Jewish Press Devorah and Alan Aranoff have contributed a lot to the Jewish people, but two things (aside from the many articles their family have inspired me to write) stand out in my mind. The first is that Alan, an architect, built their house in Lapid, a predominantly secular town in the Modi’in […]

Photo Credit: Jewish Press Every Shabbos, Jewish adults are supposed to read the parshah twice along with Onkelos’s Aramaic translation once. Since the purpose of this obligation is to understand the parshah, one halachic opinion (quoted in Shulchan Aruch) maintains that it can be fulfilled by studying the parshah with Rashi since Rashi explains everything […]

Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey / https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/ Chuck Schumer The decision by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to serve as one of the featured speakers at the upcoming J Street conference should trouble every supporter of Israel. It’s both a boost for Jewish critics of Israel and a disturbing sign of trends within the Democratic Party. […]

Photo Credit: Jewish Press In both this week’s parsha and its haftarah, Yeshaya 42, we are told of Hashem’s mastery of and involvement with the world. As the first verse in the haftarah states (Yeshaya 42:5): “So said Hashem, the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the One Who stretched them out, Who widened […]