FEBRUARY 8, 2018 BY JARED FORETEK For Rabbi Shalom and Revital Hadad, the beauty of Ocean City is matched only by the tenuousness of Jewish life. In the seaside town, kosher isn’t exactly commonplace. But the couple has set out to fill in the gaps since landing there three years ago to lead the small flock at Congregation Ahavat Shalom, a Sephardic …

Friday 02nd, February 2018 Two years ago, Rabbi Gideon Osher Shmueli donated a kidney to a stranger, saving that individual’s life. These days, he works at Magen David Yeshivah in Brooklyn, N.Y., teaching Hebrew and bringing with that teaching the culture and values of Judaism and eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel. To him, teaching about Judaism …

Rabbi Eli and Rivka Magzimof, Chaplaincy Couple at Leeds University, were “blown away” by generosity of current and former Leeds students who helped them rebuild their sukkah after it was destroyed by fierce winds. Rebuilding the sukkah enabled Eli and Rivka, respective graduates of OTS’s Straus-Amiel Institute and Claudia Cohen Women …

What does Jerusalem mean to you? In honor of the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification, Rabbi Benjy Myers, Educational Director of OTS’s Beren-Amiel and Straus-Amiel emissary preparation programs asked the rabbis and educators serving communities all over the world to pose the question to their congregants and students. This video is …

Eateries in Champaign-Urbana are beginning to receive Kosher certification, thanks to an initiative led by Illini Hillel and the OU’s JLIC.  The initiative was spurred by JLIC “couple on campus,” Kollel Torat Yosef musmach Rabbi Shlomo Schacter and Rebbetzin Ahava Schacter-Zarembski, graduates of OTS’s Beren-Amiel and Claudia …

Warsaw’s Jewish community buried fragments of pre-war Torah scrolls inside two enormous clay jars at the city’s Jewish cemetery on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the start of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.  Kol Hakavod to OTS Straus-Amiel graduate, Warsaw’s Chief Rabbi Moshe Bloom, for organizing the burial in cooperation with Poland’s …

For over 500 years there was no Shul in Palermo, Sicily. This week, part of a Catholic Church will become a synagogue. Kol Hakavod to OTS Straus-Amiel graduate, Rabbi Pinhas Punturello, on this incredible achievement.   Palermo, Sicily, to get first synagogue in 500 years In a gesture marking anniversary of expulsion, Catholic Church will finance …

The Shofar Belongs to Everyone Rabbi Riskin often says that as committed Jews, our approach toward everything in life is critical: rather than cursing the darkness, we must light more candles. In what has become a tradition, our Yachad Program ran a nationwide Rosh Hashana initiative which lit the proverbial candles for tens of thousands of secular …

Shofar Blasts Heard Around the World For many of us, the sound of the Shofar is an integral part of our daily routine, the soundtrack which accompanies us from the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul all the way through Rosh Hashana.  But this year, tourists in many of the world’s major cities of New Zealand, Europe, Latin and North America …

    In Bratslav, Ukraine, Straus-Amiel emissary Rabbi David Basok joined other faith leaders, including the Dalai Lama, in a united APPEAL FOR PEACE.   “We have gathered here in this unique place, in this truly amazing region where people of many nations and cultures have successfully co-existed despite their different beliefs and religions. …