Category: Science and Health

One of the side effects of spending a few decades in the advertising business, as I did, is that thoughts percolate in your mind whether you like it or not. For several years now, one pesky thought has been bothering me: Why is it that the more money and resources we put in our fight […]

Growing up, Rabbi Zach Golden didn’t want to be a rabbi at “a normal shul.”  It was more than just talk: he founded Der Nister, the first Yiddish synagogue in Downtown Los Angeles. Der Nister is Yiddish for The Hidden, and that’s an apt description – the shul is located on the 14th floor of […]

My friend Laura invited me for a girls’ night out with our mutual friend Esther. When she told me the destination, I hesitated. It was a place of dark temptation for me, a place I hadn’t dared visit for years.   “Come on,” Laura said, teasingly. “You know you want to.” “I’ll drive,” I said, […]

At the 97th Academy Awards, Jewish actors Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. It was only the second time in the Academy’s history that Jews took both awards; at the 59th Academy Awards in 1987, Paul Newman won for “The Color of Money” and Marlee Matlin won for […]

The 97th annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday night. A bit of mystery was added to all the pageantry. Long before statues were handed out, the anticipation was eclipsed by the glamorous parade of designer finery—not the tuxes, dresses and gowns, but one added accessory: a Red Hand pin worn specially for the red […]

Global Condemnation of the Iranian Regime In its latest stance, the G7 members have unequivocally condemned the Iranian regime’s destabilizing actions. These actions include accelerating uranium enrichment without a credible civilian justification, supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East and the Red Sea, expanding ballistic missiles and drones, suppressing dissidents beyond its borders, and violating […]

I recently visited the Theater J in Washington, D.C. to see a sublime piece of theater—Ari’el Stachel’s “Out of Character.” While I cannot recommend the show enough, what truly surprised me was the fact that Theater J is a world class, state-of-the art theatrical venue embedded in the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center (JCC). In fact, I […]

New research conducted by the Israel on Campus Coalition in partnership with Schoen Cooperman Research shows that among 1000 U.S. adults surveyed, 81% of them support Israel’s right to defend itself. Additionally, poll results showed that 82% believe a final ceasefire deal should require Hamas’ removal from power in Gaza. The poll, which was conducted […]

On Feb. 20, MAZON: A JewishResponse to Hunger, announced they were adding transgender (trans) youth to its advocacy priority populations.  As the national and political climate grows increasingly difficult, MAZON is addressing concerns that trans youth are struggling to meet basic needs, including access to food. “We began exploring this as a possible priority for […]

Yekutiel Yehudah Halberstam (1905-1994) was born to a Hasidic family of the great Sanz dynasty in the small Jewish town of Rudnik, Poland. During the Holocaust, Rabbi Halberstam’s beloved wife and 11 children were sent to Auschwitz, where they were immediately murdered. As the sole survivor of his family, he faced the daily Nazi death […]