Mazal Tov to Fellow Friends School Alumna, Rochelle!
A few years ago a young woman named Rochelle Windman came to us for a Shabbat meal. She was putting together a Jewish learning program for singles and somebody suggested my husband could teach. So she came to our house for a meal to meet him. When Rochelle came in, I asked what she was […]
Read MoreWhy Chabad Rabbis Spent Last Shabbat on the Phone
Shabbat is the Jewish day of rest. Religious observance of Shabbat includes a prohibition against operating electricity – which means not even touching phones and other electronic devices. But this past Shabbat was different. Because Jewish law puts saving lives over everything. Ukrainian-speaking Chabad emissaries and volunteers spent the whole day on the phone, trying […]
Read MoreMazal Tov Chana Ximena and Avishai!
Last night my social media coordinator Chana Ximena Orozco and Avishai Abutbul of Ashkelon got married! May Hashem bless them with everything good, until 120! Watch the interview I did the past summer with Chana Ximena about her incredible journey from being a Mexican soap-opera star to an Orthodox Jew living in Israel. Mazal tov!
Read MoreNathan Sharansky: Growing up Jewish in Ukraine
Nathan Sharansky spoke this week at the Sheva Brachot of Benaya and Neta Dickstein’s wedding. (Benaya lost both his parents and brother, to a terrorist attack when he was just seven years old). Sharansky shared the following to those at the Simcha. “When I grew up in Ukraine in the city of Donetsk, there were […]
Read MoreThe Successful Failed Shidduch
I thought my daughter was going to marry the first boy she dated. But, after a few months of day-dreaming about the wedding and practicing saying his last name added to her first, they broke up. I’ve heard it said that just like the person you marry is bashert, so too are the people you […]
Read MoreHome is Where Your Mom Is
Today I was looking for a wedding present for somebody very dear to my heart, JewishMom’s social-media coordinator, Chana Ximena Orozco, who is b”H getting married on Wednesday to a wonderful young Israeli man named Avishai. You might remember Chana Ximena from an interview I did with her this past summer about her incredible journey […]
Read MoreThe Ukraine War’s Urgent Lesson for Israel by Rabbi YY Jacobson
Why Israel should be especially concerned about the events in Ukraine, and the Jewish heroes who made up the family of Ukrainian Prime Minister Zelensky. Please note: I have corrected factual errors in yesterday’s post about Putin’s childhood relationship with Orthodox Jewish neighbors. Check out the revised version here.
Read MoreA Surprising Story Behind Putin’s Love of Jews
In the midst of the horrific, unprovoked attack on the innocent people of Ukraine, Vladmir Putin is exposing himself as a cruel, power-hungry tyrant. In fact, one of the only good things we can say about Putin is that he is, surprisingly, not an antisemite. In fact, Israel’s prime minister is in Moscow right now […]
Read MoreUkraine, Israel Loves You!
I just flew into Ben Gurion Airport from the US where I attended my nephew’s bar mitzvah. When I walked through the exit, I was pretty shocked when these girls greeted me! Hundreds of Israeli sem girls, many from the Midrasha in Lod, holding flowers, balloons and signs like this one (which says “Ukraine, Israel […]
Read MoreMy Fellow Americans, Have More Children by Ross Douthat
In preparation for the State of the Union address on Tueday night, The New York Times asked 4 columnists what they would most love to hear the President to say. Here’s the suggestion of NY Times Columnist Ross Douthat: My fellow Americans: I want to speak to you about a new challenge we face that […]
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