FJN News & Features

There are many instances in which our relationship to God is compared to the relationship between a bride and groom. The upcoming dual holiday of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah is one such example. As we dance with the Torah, it is compared to the wedding celebration; when we are…

"G-d said, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a help-opposite for him" (Genesis 2:18).

With these words, the very first value judgment made by G-d, the Creator alerts us to one of the most basic existential issues of humanity. A…

"Everything" did not change on 9/11, as some expected, but one thing certainly did: the U.S. government’s willingness to preempt enemies before they act. This new policy has outraged so many, it may be discontinued.

In foreign affairs, preemption replaced the long-established policy of deterrence. A series…

Modern day general anesthesia can include the following features: 1) analgesia: blocking pain sensation. 2) Hypnosis: producing unconsciousness. 3) Amnesia: preventing memory formation. 4) Relaxation: preventing unwanted movement. All of these features characterize the first case of anesthesia which is recorded in Parshas Bereishis. According to the Torah,…

JTA Mideast Briefs from our October 3, 2007 Digital Edition

Israel lifts veil on Syria sortie

Israel officially acknowledged for the first time it struck targets in Syria a month ago. Military censors on Tuesday partially lifted a gag order on reporting about the alleged Syria air…

Jewish institutions will receive the majority of U.S. federal funds designated this year to help secure non-profit organizations.

Of the 308 grants awarded through the Urban Areas Security Initiative Non-Profit Security Grant Program, 251 are being allocated to Jewish groups, totaling $19.6 million.

The $24 million…

South Florida Briefs from our October 3, 2007 Digital Edition

Become an Advocate for Israel

‘Winning the War of Words,’ a program that teaches how to advocate on behalf of Israel as well as answer critics when discussing the Arab-Israel conflict, will be presented on Sunday, Oct.…

‘Kehillot Tehilla,’ (Heb. ‘communities of praise’), an enterprise owned by the international nonprofit ‘Tehilla,’ the Voluntary Union for Religious Aliyah , will host a workshop about "Purchasing Your Home in Israel for the Oleh & Investor Alike" on Oct. 16 in North Miami Beach and Oct. 17 in…

Google will not delist JewWatch.com from its index, despite nearly 400,000 digital signatures appearing on an online petition demanding its removal

Circulating since April 2004, the email chain letter petition to remove the anti-Semitic website JewWatch.com from Google’s search engine, is still out there in cyberspace.…

There is simply no describing the plaintive, moving melody to which Yiddish writer Avraham Reisen’s poem was set. As a song, it is familiar to many of us who were introduced to it by immigrant parents or grandparents. And, remarkably, the strains of "A Sukkeleh," no matter how often…

For some, the very idea of religion is paradoxical. On the one hand, we want to experience God, to soar to great spiritual heights. But on the other hand, we are often taken aback by the seemingly picayune details of our rituals: The precise quantity of wine necessary for…

Many people buy term life insurance when they are young, because it is the most affordable way to protect a growing family from year to year. Term insurance offers basic death protection, often in policies that are annually renewable. Since the probability is very low that a person under…

Like many High Holidays worshipers, Andrew Steinerman had traditionally dealt with the Yom Kippur prohibition on wearing leather footwear by turning to Converse’s classic Chuck Taylor high-top canvas basketball shoe.

Not anymore. This year the prominent Wall Street analyst sported a pair of black Crocs to his Modern Orthodox shul…

While the outside world hardly noticed, a significant and rapidly growing amount of money is now being managed in accord with Islamic law, the Shari‘a. According to one study, "by the end of 2005, more than 300 institutions in over 65 jurisdictions were managing assets worth around US$700 billion…

One of the highlights of the Sukkot holiday is the waving of the Lulav and Etrog. When we perform this mitzvah, we can also delight in the wonderful fragrance of the Etrog and enjoy the verdant colorations of the Lulav. It is somewhat sad when at the end of…

Loca Briefs from our September 26, 2007 Digital Edition

Boca Raton Moms Host Breast Cancer Fundraiser

Congregation B’nai Israel (CBI) located at 2200 Yamato Road in Boca Raton will host its second "Think Pink" bruncheon on October 12 at 9:45 am to raise awareness and funds for new…

The 27th Annual Alper JCC Jewish Book Festival will celebrate Israel’s 60th through writers that explore Jewish life, religion and political thought. The Festival begins on Thursday, Oct. 18th with historian Michael Oren, the acclaimed author of Six Days of War, a former advisor to Yitzhak Rabin and an…

The Michael-Ann Russell JCC’s Youth Flag Football Team, the Mo Steel Seniors, represented "Team USA" at the Junior Flag Football World Cup - hosted by the International Federation of American Football – September 22-23 in Lelystad, the Netherlands – and captured the GOLD medal. 

After a bronze medal…

The high political theater surrounding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York this week triggered plenty of protests, headlines and debates. But it remains unclear if, even after all the exertions this week, the international community has inched any closer to resolving the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.…

Amid protests in New York and Washington, front-runners in the 2008 presidential campaign lined up to blast Columbia University for its decision to host Monday’s lecture by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that she would not have…