7th grade girls

When one performs an act of hesed, it becomes a domino effect, as one good deed leads to another. Recently, Magen David Yeshivah held a fun-filled carnival in honor of the Torah School for Special Children, a school that focuses on the needs of Jewish children born with Down syndrome. There was a superb turnout, and everyone was very excited; the night was filled with acts of generosity and kindness.

“To dance with the students from the Torah School for Special Children not only brought simcha to each student, but also created a sense of joy in everyone who participated,” said Rabbi Baruch Hilsenrath, principal of Magen David Yeshivah.

The Career Services Team

We, the Sephardic community of NY and NJ, are blessed in ways that one cannot count or fathom. Like no other group, we can depend on each other during happiness and sorrow, sickness and health, prosperity and hardship. Like a successful marriage, we are there for each other. Caring and helping are major elements of what it means to be a Jew; and in our community it means even more.

Everyone is well aware that today, times are tough. While some businesses, with G-d’s help, have maintained success, others have not fared as well through this economic storm. Business is slow, money is tight, and everyone, from the richest to the poorest, is making changes in their lives and in their businesses. We, too, are asking you to make a change.

The TEACH NYS group at a reception in a historic room in the Capitol

After you have 15,000 people call the Governor to protest his proposed $62 million in cuts to New York’s private schools, how do you send an even stronger message to the powers that be in Albany? If you’re TEACH NYS, you arrange for 50 of the most important Jewish leaders from throughout New York to travel to Albany and tell their legislators, “We need help.” So, TEACH NYS arranged for a coach bus to pick up yeshivah leaders from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Monsey and Westchester. Nearly 50,000 yeshivah students were represented by dozens of yeshivah leaders in Albany. The group met with over 40 elected officials, declaring their one clear message—stop the disproportionate cuts to private schools in New York.

Broken windows from Kristallnacht

Yom HaShoah was established in 1951 by the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion and the President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. The original proposal was to hold Yom Hashoah on the 14th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, but this was problematic because the 14th of Nisan is the day immediately before Passover. So, the date was moved to the 27th of Nisan, which is eight days before Yom Ha’atzmaut, or Israeli Independence Day. Yom HaShoah is also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, when we remember the six million Jews that perished in the Holocaust.

There are many things to remember on Yom HaShoah, one of which is Kristallnacht, the evening of November 9-10, 1938, when Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria. Thirty thousand Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps; 91 were killed. Thousands of Jewish shops, businesses and homes were looted and pillaged and over 1,000 synagogues were destroyed. This night came to be known as Kristallnacht, which means Night of Broken Glass, due to all the broken glass from the looting.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not Queen Isabella’s jewelry that enabled Columbus’s discovery of America; rather, it was Spanish Jewry! In particular it was Luis de Santangel, whose grandfather had converted from Judaism to Christianity under pressure of Spanish persecution, who lent nearly 5 million maravedis to pay for the voyage. In addition, Santangel’s influence with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella was decisive in gaining their acceptance of Columbus’s proposals. In recognition of his assistance, Santangel was the first to hear of the historic discoveries directly in a personal letter from Columbus.

Jews celebrate the first two nights of Passover with a joyous family event—the seder. We relive the experience of our ancestors as they were exiled and enslaved in Egypt, then liberated by G-d over 3,300 years ago. We recount the miracles of the exodus, and pray that the future redemption comes very soon.

Years ago, I identified myself as an Arab Jew. As a descendant of four Syrian Jewish grandparents for whom Arabic was their first language, it seemed to fit. Even my parents spoke Arabic as their first language. While I never spoke the language, I could count, say angry words, love words and of course, “food,” in Arabic. Yet I was uncomfortable with the term because it seemed politically incorrect.

A few years ago, I saw the term being used by David Shasha, who writes an online newsletter. We got into a heated debate about the term and later I got into a discussion with Dr. Zvi Zohar of Bar Ilan University about the same issue. I wasn’t entirely convinced until I started to do some research of my own.

Sephardic Passover cuisine is rich and delicious—and since it’s traditional, we often make the same dishes year after year. This year, freshen up your menu with a few new recipes.