Preserving memory with new tradition

Holocaust Council creates Shoa seder as model for others

Well past the Passover season, the Holocaust Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ is planning a seder on Sunday, May 19, at the Aidekman campus in Whippany.
Drawing on some of the rituals associated with the Passover Haggada, the Shoa Seder is being planned to coincide with the month that Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1945. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Wilf family gift boosts survivor program

Even when their attention is on a singer or speaker, or they are simply absorbed in conversation with those who share their traumatic history, the Holocaust survivors who attend Cafe Europa gatherings in Elizabeth or South Orange are also the focus of attention themselves. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

One Dr. Ruth honors another at Lion lunch

Dr. Ruth Westheimer urged Jewish women philanthropists to “make believe tonight is Friday night” — and she wasn’t talking about lighting Shabbat candles. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Bus tour honors supporters of day schools

Major donors and leaders of Greater MetroWest Jewish day schools came together on May 3 for a “Day School Showcase” bus tour of three schools, followed by a luncheon featuring Yossi Prager, executive director for North America of the AVI CHAI Foundation.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Girls get DIY approach to bat mitzva prep

Megan Glajchen and Irene Billinson, both 11, and Emma Lichtenberg, 12, sat around the dining room table in Ashley Jacob’s West Orange home on a recent Sunday afternoon. They munched on grapes and cookies while considering commentaries on why the biblical patriarch Jacob was angry at his wife Rachel for asking him to give her children. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

A ‘family business’ to serve Jewish families

In commemoration of his 18 years with Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ, Rothman, its executive director, will be saluted on Wednesday, June 5, at the agency’s gala dinner at Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Wilfs welcome new Yad Vashem entrance

Yad Vashem has unveiled the latest contribution by a New Jersey family to the memory of Holocaust victims and for the support of survivors.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

‘Bring what you learn wherever you are’

An NJJN conversation with six local teens, all leaders-in-training

In recent years the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ has undertaken a significant commitment to teen leadership. Currently, three programs — Diller Teen Fellows, Iris Teen Tzedekah Advisors, and Write On For Israel — are in place, each aiming to excite and engage teens to become active members in the Jewish world and to provide them with leadership skills before they get to college and beyond. NJJN editor-in-chief Andrew Silow-Carroll sat down with six current participants for a wide-ranging discussion of pro-Israel advocacy, the Jewish future, and what teens know that adults don’t. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Lost in the stars

First, let’s take a deep breath. Stephen Hawking’s decision to join the academic boycott of Israel may be infuriating, but it’s not the end of the world. On balance, I’ll prefer to remember it as a week in which Facebook appeared ready to buy its third Israeli company and the Washington Post declared Israel “a major player in the Mediterranean, and perhaps even the European, natural gas market.”
»Read More

Published in: Editor’s Column

The same, yet different

Naso | Numbers 4:1-7:89

The pressures of conformity are strong in all human societies. We all want to be part of the group, part of the crowd.
And yet we all feel the need to assert our own individuality. »Read More

Published in: Touch of Torah

A politician’s vision: a Torah for all Jews

I have a new hero. And I’m not the only one. Her name is Ruth Calderon and she is the most talked about new member of Knesset in recent memory.
»Read More

Published in: Op-Eds

Haredi rabbis see the writing on the Wall

Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals when Jews travelled to Jerusalem to offer their first fruits in the Temple, a Thanksgiving for a new harvest. All Jews were required to make the trip to worship at the Temple.
Unfortunately, this past week before the holiday saw events in Jerusalem that were hardly a reflection of the conviviality and joyous celebrations associated with Shavuot. »Read More

Published in: Op-Eds

From Berlin to Washington

Iconic photo caps film about famed Newark rabbi

As they neared the finish line of their documentary on the iconic Rabbi Joachim Prinz, filmmakers Rachel Pasternak and Rachel Fisher had one big editorial gap to fill.
»Read More

Published in: Life & Times

Day school funders tout long-term giving

Local philanthropists served as role models as day school heads, development officers, community leaders, and fund-raisers gathered in Florham Park in pursuit of the brass ring: how to inspire the community to support endowment funding for Jewish day schools. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

The tools they need

During our roundtable discussion this week with participants in various local teen leadership programs, the students were asked, “What don’t adults get about teens?” »Read More

Published in: Editorial

Torah navigation leads to new journeys

What now? We didn’t know the place, and there are no bookmarks that come with a Torah.
»Read More

Published in: Life & Times

Spring bounties

Celebrate Shavuot with the best of the season

With its tradition of dairy meals, Shavuot is one of my favorite holidays. Arriving later in the spring — an ideal time to find delicious fruits, herbs, and vegetables — it’s perfect for using fresh and seasonal ingredients.
»Read More

Published in: Life & Times

Local athletes to compete in Israel Games

At first glance, Carli Block and Anthony Firkser don’t appear to have much in common. But this July, they will share a single goal — to represent their country at the quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel. »Read More

Published in: Sports

Survivor will ‘never forgive, never forget’

Although Edward Mosberg managed to live through torture and imprisonment at the Plaszow and Mauthausen concentration camps, all 16 members of his family were murdered by the Nazis.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Hoenlein brings good news, dire warnings

At builders’ fund-raiser, activist warns of Iran’s multipronged hostility

Malcolm Hoenlein mixed good news and dire warnings about Israel in a May 6 speech to Jewish federation leaders in Scotch Plains.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Cong. Beth El mourns its ‘heart and soul’

Rabbi Jehiel Orenstein, who led S. Orange shul for 35 years, dies at 78

Hundreds of mourners packed the sanctuary at Congregation Beth El last week as they remembered Rabbi Jehiel Orenstein, who served as the “heart and soul” of the South Orange synagogue for 35 years until his retirement in 2005. Orenstein, 78, died on May 5 after a struggle with ALS. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

Veteran recounts ‘miracles’ of survival

As he looks toward his 90th birthday on July 10, and thinks about this week’s 68th anniversary of VE Day — commemorating the Nazis’ surrender to Allied forces on May 7, 1945 — and his narrow escape from death in World War II, Robert Max attributes his survival to a series of what may be seen as “miracles” — or at least highly unusual circumstances.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

‘Stumbling stone’ keeps family’s past alive

Small bronze plaques have been embedded in a sidewalk in the village of Binau, Germany. They bear the names of Samuel and Fanny Eiseman and stark inscriptions in German noting that the Eisemans were deported in 1940 and murdered on Aug. 14, 1942, at Auschwitz.
Sharon Hammerman was determined to honor her grandparents with these simple six-by-eight-inch plaques after she saw similar ones in 2009 during a visit to Berlin. »Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

J Street rep praises Arab League initiative

J Street’s new regional field organizer urged local followers to seize on current headlines to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
»Read More

Published in: New Jersey News

Building bright futures through action

As I enter the final months of my three-year term as president of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, I want to highlight just a few of the association’s accomplishments.
»Read More

Published in: Op-Eds

Red alert? Obama blurs a line in the sand

Red lines are in the news.
»Read More

Published in: Op-Eds

Self defense

Fears that Syria’s civil war would spread into neighboring countries is an academic concern for much of the world, but an existential crisis in Israel. »Read More

Published in: Editorial

Between jihad and liberty

How much Islamophobia is just enough?
»Read More

Published in: Editor’s Column

The tablets broke, the words remained

Shavuot

Shavuot marks the occasion of the giving of our Torah, an event like no other. »Read More

Published in: Touch of Torah

At Bonds gala, envoy describes UN thaw

Israeli Ron Prosor sees progress in tone; ‘They’re not Zionists’

Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations said his country is beginning to gain acceptance at the world body, where its actions have been frequently condemned.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

At Israel confab, it’s hip to be partners

Jewish professionals and funders gathered in Newark May 5 and 6 for a conference on “people to people” partnerships between the Diaspora and Israel.
»Read More

Published in: New Jersey News

AJC guest sees little moderation in Islam

A former career operations officer with the CIA warned that moderation is “not the norm” in the Muslim world, while the Jewish organization that hosted her insisted that peaceful dialogue between Jews and Muslims is still possible.
»Read More

Published in: Monmouth News

An ‘extraordinary’ day of learning

Members of Hadassah learned how to manage their time, how lobbyists win support for Israel, and how Israeli medical researchers are saving lives there and around the world, during a day of talks and workshops in Monroe.
»Read More

Published in: Princeton Mercer Bucks News

Author hunts secrets of anti-Nazi resisters

Jud Newborn calls ‘White Rose’ siblings ‘source of inspiration’

Jud Newborn first fell for the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl when he arrived in Germany to do field work for his dissertation at the University of Chicago.
»Read More

Published in: Middlesex News, Princeton Mercer Bucks News

Women share spirit of federation giving

Luncheon recalls music of defiance written in Nazi era

Music composed by Holocaust-era composers formed the centerpiece of the May 2 spring luncheon of the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks Women’s Philanthropy.
»Read More

Published in: Princeton Mercer Bucks News

Legal scholar outlines IDF’s ethical dilemmas

In a war where the enemy doesn’t wear uniforms and where one side is trying to minimize civilian casualties while the other is intent on maximizing collateral damage to further its aims, can a “moral” war be waged?
»Read More

Published in: Middlesex News

Temple to explore Conservative Judaism

The Conservative movement and its future will be explored May 10-11 at the Highland Park Conservative Temple-Congregation Anshe Emeth with Rabbi William H. Lebeau, the former vice chancellor for rabbinic development and immediate past dean of the rabbinical school of the Jewish Theological Seminary. »Read More

Published in: Middlesex News

Israeli superstar to lift up the Jersey shore

An Israeli superstar who has a history of lifting spirits with his music will bring his fluency in a host of cultures and languages to the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park on Wednesday evening, May 22.
»Read More

Published in: Monmouth News

SSDS celebrates Israel at home and abroad

In a way, all the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Monmouth County students were “in Israel” for Independence Day — while some were celebrating 6,000 miles from New Jersey, the rest were on a virtual visit created right in their Marlboro school.
»Read More

Published in: Monmouth News

25 years for Western Monmouth Chabad

Chabad of Western Monmouth County will mark its 25th anniversary with a gala on Sunday evening, May 19, at The Heldrich in New Brunswick.
»Read More

Published in: Monmouth News

A community ‘call out’ for needed funds

In an effort to smooth out the flow of contributions throughout the year, Jewish Federation of Monmouth County has decided to restructure its Super Sunday fund-raising day in 2013. Instead, it is focusing on a series of smaller, more frequent Community Call Days.
»Read More

Published in: Monmouth News

Yeshiva welcomes gift of a Torah scroll

Yeshiva at the Jersey Shore welcomed a century-old Torah scroll April 28 with music, dancing, and food.
»Read More

Published in: Monmouth News

Richard Kohn, ‘quiet, humble’ leader, 81

Attorney Richard Kohn, a leading member of the Princeton Mercer Bucks Jewish community, died in Pennington on March 29 at the age of 81.
»Read More

Published in: Princeton Mercer Bucks News

Survivors’ son relates tales of grief, rescue

Shalom Torah Academy of East Windsor commemorated Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Memorial Day, by welcoming Leon Goldenberg, who told students in the fifth-eighth grades about his family’s experiences during and after World War II and the heroism of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who rescued tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary.
»Read More

Published in: Princeton Mercer Bucks News

Women perform ‘knitzvah’ for the needy

The Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks’ Women’s Philanthropy division recently launched “Lion Brand Knitzvah,” a multigenerational group dedicated to knitting scarves, hats, and blankets for local hospitals and other area recipients in need.
»Read More

Published in: Princeton Mercer Bucks News

At Rutgers University, artists deliver pro-Israel message

Hillel invites students to paint a temporary mural on College Ave.

Armed with only spray cans and T-shirts, Rutgers University students scrawled a strong message of support for Israel.
»Read More

Published in: New Jersey News

Execs promote Israeli energy innovators

Nonprofit introduces alternative fuel experts to U.S. researchers

Cooperation between the United States and Israel in developing alternatives to Middle Eastern oil is now closer than ever, according to leaders of a not-for-profit called The Israel Energy Partnership.
»Read More

Published in: New Jersey News

Shul celebrates ‘getting it right’ 30 years ago

Rabbi George Nudell marks milestone at Cong. Beth Israel

In 1982, the Scotch Plains Conservative congregation then known as Temple Israel — now Congregation Beth Israel — was looking for a new rabbi.
»Read More

Published in: Greater MetroWest News

‘How should a Jew eat in the 21st century?’

This may not seem like the most compelling issue on the Jewish agenda, but for Nigel Savage, it is a question that offers “new frames for thinking about both time and food.”
»Read More

Published in: Life & Times

A seventh year stretch

How shmita can help us kick the consumerist habit

At its core, shmita is a chance to show contemporary Jews that ancient Jewish texts have the potential to serve as a sophisticated map for many areas of their lives, not just occasional events in particular buildings. But it is also a way to induce individual Jews to take more responsibility both for their personal consumption habits and shaping the contours of their spiritual lives. »Read More

Published in: Life & Times

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