HANNAH LAZEROWITZ

Every family has its own story, its own journey worthy of care and attention. In this case, Dad was a sales executive earning $350,000 a year, until he abruptly got sick and landed in the hospital. He could no longer work, forsaking the joy and pride of providing for his family. Mom was a fitness instructor who made roughly $60,000 a year. Typically, she’d teach three sessions a week, but due to Dad’s health concerns, she had to take a work hiatus in order to take care of her husband. Mom and Dad have three children: a thirteen-year-old daughter and two sons, ages fifteen and eighteen. Mom had her hands full—whipping up delicious dinners every night, helping with homework, and imparting essential life lessons. However, the home structure suddenly flipped from comfort to chaos. Mom and Dad had too much on their plates to be present for their kids and shower them with the love they deserved. The youngest child wasn’t doing well in school, the middle child didn’t want to attend at all (and protested by misbehaving), and the oldest child was worried because high school graduation was looming and he needed life guidance. Putting her pride aside, Mom knew exactly whom she needed to turn to; she needed the full-package assistance that SBH provides. Knowing when to reach out for help is the first step, and being strong enough to make the call is just as important. Mom demonstrated bravery by following a community volunteer’s advice and contacting the SBH Client Services Division.

SBH’s mission statement is threaded with hope, assurance, and a guarantee that they will do their absolute best to mitigate family crises and act as a complete support network. Mom was vulnerable with SBH’s intake coordinator and opened up about her family’s recent struggles. The coordinator conducted an initial assessment of the case and ensured the situation fit the criteria.

“Here’s how the client service structure works,” the intake coordinator explained. “Each family is assigned a case worker and a community volunteer—referred to as a ‘captain.’ That is the team that walks families through crises, collaboratively creating both short-term and long-term goals. We employ a holistic approach for the entirety of this process. The holistic model enables us to cater to both the individual and the family as a whole. We work as a collective, as a team.”

Mom nodded with appreciation and was grateful for SBH’s dedication to help.

The intake representative continued to detail the confidentiality aspect. SBH would never disclose the names of its clients. Before someone is officially assigned a team consisting of a social worker and a captain, SBH verifies their names with the individual to ensure they are comfortable having them on the case. Assigning the right team to the right client is vital. SBH wants to cater to every family’s needs and find them the perfect match. The entire process is laced with compassion and understanding.

Later on, the team was confirmed with Mom, and they began their services by conducting a house visit. The social worker noticed disarray. Mom and Dad were behind on their bills and drowning in their mortgage. There was significant financial stress. The team agreed that it would be important to attend to the family’s physical needs as well as their mental health.

The goals were as follows: working toward providing Mom with more daily structure, facilitating Dad’s eventual return to his job, and ensuring that each child reaches a state of homeostasis and returns to a healthy lifestyle.

The dominoes were then set into motion, and SBH began to enlist their many incredible departments.

• The SBH Food Division sent over meals for dinner.
• The SBH Medical Division aided Dad with his recuperation process, making sure he was recovering properly and seeing the best doctors.
• The SBH Volunteer Division tutored and helped the kids with their homework and drove Dad to and from his appointments.
• The SBH Young Adult Division assigned mentors to both sons to guide them through crucial formative years.
• Mom and Dad were referred to the SBH Counseling Center, addressing anxiety and circumstantial uncertainty.
• SBH assisted with pressing bills, provided aid toward grocery shopping, and aimed to get the family back to their normal routines.
• The SBH Clothing Division bought Dad a new suit.
• SBH Career Services helped polish his job résumé, aiming to get him job-ready.
• The SBH SEARCH Program assigned a coach to guide Mom and Dad on how to deal with a teenager who acts out.

Not only does SBH excel at collaborative problem-solving, but they highlight the importance of maintenance through weekly check-ins:

“Mom, how is everything progressing?”
“Hey Dad, what skills can we accentuate to prepare you for a job interview?”
“Are things running smoothly?”

As portrayed, there are numerous moving parts to the SBH client services process—a harmonious intermingling of divisions and a strong army of people eager to help alleviate families from crises. SBH provides an unparalleled level of care and guidance to those in need.

Your family may look different than the one depicted—every member undergoing their own journeys and overcoming their own obstacles—but the message remains: SBH is a pillar of support every step of the way. Help yourself by letting us help you. With a case manager and captain guiding the process with love, care, and comfort, we can get through some of the toughest treks.

Hannah Lazerowitz has published several articles and essays about her life and how writing has shaped her. She is working toward publishing a novel and a poetry chapbook. Hannah is deeply passionate about her craft and hopes to continue wielding her writing as a powerful tool of connection.

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Esq.

It is not widely known but Jerusalem is at the center of each of the Jewish holidays. In addition to the three pilgrimage festivals, a second day was added to Rosh Hashana to facilitate the Temple service in case the precise appearance of the New Moon perplexed the authorities. The Temple service was at the heart of Yom Kippur and Jerusalem celebrates Purim on the same day it was celebrated in Shushan, one day after most of the Jewish world rejoices.

But on no holiday does Jerusalem feature as prominently in its history and observance as it does on Hanukkah. The miracle of Hanukkah – the burning of the Temple Menorah for eight days – occurred in Jerusalem and the liberation of Jerusalem was considered the apex of the military victory even though the war itself continued for another two decades. And there is much that happened on Hanukkah that can guide us today as the challenges that bedeviled the Jewish people then are prevalent, not to mention, exasperating, in modern times.

The story of Hanukkah almost 2200 years ago took place against the backdrop of three major crises. The Jewish world then had to wrestle with a foreign enemy, internal strife, and a spiritual malaise that threatened the continuity of Jewish life.

The Syrian Greeks led by a descendant of one of the generals of Alexander the Great captured the land of Israel and the Temple itself and embarked on a campaign of coerced Hellenization of the Jewish population. The Temple was defiled with a statue of Zeus, service in the Temple was summarily halted, and the Syrians attempted to force the Jews to abandon Torah study, circumcision, and other fundamental commandments in the hope that Jews would assimilate into the Greek culture as all other conquered nations had done. Additionally, the Syrians exercised hegemony over the land of Israel and the Jews were subjugated in their own land.

Most Jews succumbed to the allures of Hellenism, embraced their conquerors, and fiercely opposed the rebellion of the Hasmoneans. In a real yet frightening sense, the war of Hanukkah was as much a civil war among Jews as it was a rebellion against the foreign enemy. Jews were quite willing to lend support to the enemy and too many did not hesitate to abandon the particulars of Jewish observance and identity in order to integrate into the Hellenist culture that had swept the world.

None of these predicaments are unknown to us today. The Jewish state, and Jerusalem itself, hosts a large Arab population that does not necessarily perceive its destiny as identical to that of Israeli Jews. There are hostile foreign elements within Jerusalem – chapters of Hamas, Turkish anti-Israel organizations, Qatar money funding a variety of nefarious activities, and European consulates that operate in Jerusalem as embassies to the Palestinians in defiance of Israeli law and thus threatening Israeli sovereignty in the Holy City, including that of Greece, of all countries, our ancient tormentor.

The internal disharmony in Israel over the last few years, which itself precipitated the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, was mostly papered over by the war but has now slowly re-emerged. It mostly centers on starkly different, even diametrically opposed, visions of Jewish destiny, the meaning, importance, and even continued relevance of a Jewish state, and competing notions of Israeli and Jewish identity.

To be sure, the good news is that the state of affairs when the rebellion of Hanukkah began was far more precarious than it is today. We have endured much as a people, weathered conquests, expulsions, exiles, pogroms, and Holocausts, only to return to our land – as promised in the Bible – and reestablish thereon the third Jewish commonwealth. Jews for the last two millennia could only dream of an independent Jewish state in which Torah study is abundant, the observance of mitzvot is woven into the societal structure, a Jewish army can rise up against our foes in righteous self-defense, and Hanukkah is a national celebration. Indeed, despite all our differences and the superficial discord, somehow, we have created and maintained a thriving society, prosperous and caring, boisterous but determined, tolerant and broadminded, embattled but audacious, and in many respects, the envy of the world.

We should never ignore the gifts we have been given nor trivialize the opportunities with which we have been blessed. The Jewish population of Jerusalem has not been as sizable as it is today since the destruction of the Temple over nineteen centuries ago. The challenges that we face today – both domestic and foreign – pale before the challenges we overcame throughout history.

That is because the great light of Hanukkah still illuminates our way forward and reminds us of the great days of faith, unity, and redemption ahead.

Happy Hanukkah to all!

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is Senior Research Associate at the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy  (JCAP.ngo)

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ZT”L

History itself has a history. Our perspectives shift over time, and some moments may only seem meaningful in retrospect. We don’t always understand the real significance of an event until many decades later or sometimes even centuries. A classic example of this is the history of Hanukkah.

At one level, the Hanukkah story is very simple. From the days of Alexander the Great of Macedon, Israel was under the dominion of the Alexandrian Empire of the Greeks. This meant that in the third century BCE, it was under the control of the Ptolemies who were based in Egypt and Alexandria. Then, during the second century BCE, Israel came under the domain of the Seleucids who were based in Syria.

The Seleucid leader, Antiochus IV, who modestly called himself Epiphanes, meaning “G-d made manifest”, decided to force the pace of Hellenisation on the Jews of the land of Israel. Among other things, he forbade the public practice of Judaism, erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple, and offered swine before it as a sacrifice, in a desecration of Jewish values that Jews of the time called the Abomination of Desolation.

An elderly Priest called Mattityahu, and his sons and their supporters known to history as the Maccabees, rose in revolt. Over the next three years they scored a momentous victory over the Seleucids, reconquering Jerusalem and bringing it back under Jewish sovereignty. They cleansed the Temple and rededicated it, lighting the great Menorah, the candelabrum that stood in the Temple, for a celebration lasting eight days.

That is the story of Hanukkah as captured in history in the first and second books of Maccabees. But that is not how the story was ultimately told within the Jewish tradition, as it was ruled that the two books of Maccabees, and others under the same title, should be called Sefarim Chitzoni’im, apocryphal works, and kept out of the Bible. The Hanukkah story that is told instead is a very different one, with a powerful message.

The Talmud tells us that in the first century, in the last days of the Second Temple, a Rabbi called Yehoshua Ben Gamla established a network of schools throughout Israel. The result of this was that from the age of six, every child in the country received a publicly-funded universal education. This was the first education system of its kind anywhere in the world, and also a clear indication of the now familiarly Jewish commitment to education and to ensuring our children are literate in their heritage. According to the Talmud, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamla’s memory is blessed, because without his intervention the Torah would have been forgotten in Israel. Without him, there would have been no survival of Judaism and ultimately no Jews.

What Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Gamla and the other Sages understood, and what was not understood at the time of Hanukkah itself, was that the real battle against the Greeks was not a military one, but a cultural one. At the time, the Greeks were the world’s greatest in many fields. They were unparalleled in their advances in art, in architecture, in literature, in drama, in philosophy. Even today, their achievements have never been surpassed. But Jews nonetheless believed, and surely history has borne this out, that there is within Judaism, within ancient Israel and still within its heritage to today, something special. Something worth fighting for. Judaism, with its emphasis on the sanctification of life, and the belief that every human being was created in G-d’s image, held eternal truths that we could not abandon. This was the unique distinction between the culture of the Greeks and the world of Torah and Judaism. As a result, Jews have always known that the real battle is not necessarily fought on the physical battlefield with physical weapons, but rather in the hearts and minds of future generations.

So Judaism, and the Jewish people, became a faith and a nation no longer focusing on its military heroes, but on its spiritual ones. It became a civilization rooted in texts, and in teachers, and in houses of study. We became the people whose heroes were teachers, whose citadels were schools, and whose passion was learning and the life of the mind. The end result was that Judaism did survive and thrive throughout the centuries, whereas Ancient Greece, the Greece of Athens, the Greece of Alexander the Great, declined. In fact, it was only a short time after the events of the Hanukkah story that Greece began its decline, and Rome rose to take its place.

That is the message of Hanukkah, and to articulate our story, we focus in a rather beautiful and symbolic way on just one tiny detail of the original chain of events: That one cruse of pure, undefiled oil was found by the Maccabees among the wreckage and defilements of the Temple, just enough to light the Menorah until more oil could be sourced.

One of the most interesting aspects of this shifting perspective from the original way of telling the story to the current way is reflected in the name of the festival itself. Hanukkah, from the word chanuch, means re-dedication. That is what the Maccabees did to the Temple. They rededicated it, as described in the books of Maccabees. Yet over time, Hanukkah became connected to the word chinuch, a word meaning education. What we re-dedicated was not a physical building–the Temple–but living embodiments of Judaism, namely our children, our students, the people to whom we teach and hand on our heritage and values.

From being the festival of a military victory, Hanukkah became the festival of a spiritual and civilizational one.

I believe this history of our history has a message for us all. It teaches us this fundamental truth, as relevant to our lives today as ever before: To defend a country physically you need an army, but to defend a civilization you need education, you need educators, and you need schools. Those are the things that kept the Jewish spirit alive and the Menorah of Jewish values burning throughout the centuries in an everlasting light. Often what seems at the time to be the headline news, the military victory, is, in the hindsight of history, secondary to the cultural victory of handing your values on to the next generation.

If we do that, we will ensure that our children, and theirs, light up the world.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ZT”L was an international religious leader, and philosopher. The author of over 30 books, Rabbi Sacks received multiple awards in recognition of his work. Sadly, he passed away in November 2020.

The housing market is showing new signs of life

Roberta Gordon Esquenazi

This fall, Miami and South Florida’s real estate market is entering one of the most active stretches of the year. After a quieter summer, we’re seeing more movement across multiple segments of the market, with both buyers and sellers positioning themselves before the winter season begins and 2025 closes out.
Interest rates are expected to trend lower in the coming months, giving buyers increased purchasing power while inventory begins to build. Combined, these factors are creating the early signs of a more balanced market, where motivated sellers and well-prepared buyers can align for strategic opportunities.
The condo sector rebounded slightly but still continues to struggle, with sales down and pricing sliding. Inventory surged, giving buyers a clear advantage and strong leverage. This combination suggests that well-priced, newer, or renovated units continue to draw interest, even as older inventory lingers.
With its unmatched mix of beaches, tropical lifestyle, and no income tax environment, combined with global connectivity, South Florida has firmly established itself as one of the most desirable places to live, work, and invest.

Roberta Gordon Esquenazi, is a Realtor with over 40 years of experience specializing in luxury condos, home sales and rentals. Originally from Brooklyn, she’s passionate about South Florida living since 1982. Her goal is pairing people with the right property.

When the air turns crisp and the days grow shorter, few things feel as comforting as a warm, hearty meal at the end of the day. The challenge is finding time to cook something satisfying when weeknights are already full. That is where one-pot recipes shine. With a single pot or Dutch oven, you can bring together flavors that taste like they simmered all day, without leaving a sink full of dishes behind.

These dishes are practical, cozy, and deeply rooted in the idea that cooking for your family should nourish body and soul without adding stress. The following four recipes highlight two classic soups and two filling main courses. They are designed to be simple enough for a weeknight, yet warm and rich enough to become seasonal favorites.

Hearty Lentil Soup (Serves 6)
This soup is earthy, filling, and perfect for when you want something nutritious without fuss.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups dried green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 8 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsps fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook for 6–8 minutes until softened.
2. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, broth, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for 35–40 minutes until lentils are tender.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning. Stir in parsley before serving.
   This soup keeps well for several days and thickens as it sits, making it even more flavorful the next night.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (Serves 6)
A sweeter option that balances autumn produce with warming spices. It is smooth and elegant enough for Shabbat dinner but easy enough for a weeknight.
Ingredients

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium apples, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Add squash and apples. Stir to coat with oil.
3. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25–30 minutes until squash is tender.
4. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

This soup can be prepared in advance and reheated gently. It pairs beautifully with a slice of challah.

Chicken and Barley Stew (Serves 6–8)
This dish is a hearty one-pot meal that has the comfort of a long-simmered stew but cooks in a fraction of the time.
Ingredients

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 parsnips, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
• 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh dill for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, parsnips, and garlic. Cook until softened, about 6 minutes.
2. Push vegetables to the side and add chicken thighs. Brown lightly on both sides.
3. Add barley, broth, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
4. Cover and simmer for 50–60 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and barley is tender.
5. Remove bay leaf. Serve hot, garnished with dill.
   The barley adds a nutty texture that makes this dish filling on its own, no side dish required.

Beef and Root Vegetable Braise (Serves 6)
This recipe delivers rich, comforting flavors with minimal effort. A slow simmer allows the beef and vegetables to melt together into a satisfying fall supper.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps vegetable oil
• 2 pounds stewing beef, cut into large cubes
• 2 onions, sliced
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 small turnip, peeled and cubed
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsps tomato paste
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides, working in batches if needed. Remove beef and set aside.
2. Add onions and garlic to the pot. Cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste and cook another 2 minutes.
4. Return beef to the pot along with carrots, parsnips, and turnip. Pour in broth, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
5. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on low heat for 2–2½ hours, until beef is fork-tender.
   This braise tastes even better the next day, making it an excellent choice for preparing ahead.
   Fall weeknights rarely leave us with time to linger in the kitchen, but with the right recipes, you do not need hours to create something memorable. These one-pot wonders save time and dishes, while still offering the depth of flavor that makes a meal feel special. With a little chopping and one pot, you can have soup simmering on the stove or a stew gently bubbling away while you tend to everything else. When it is time to sit down together, you will have a warm, nourishing dinner that celebrates the best of the season.

Finding Balance for Your Mind and Body

Laura Shammah, MS, RDN

Everywhere we turn, it’s protein this, protein that. Smoothies boast extra protein, bars scream “20 grams!”, and even cereals are fortified with it. Yet beneath all the hype, real questions remain. How much do we actually need? Is there such a thing as too much? And what if you don’t even like protein foods?

As a dietitian specializing in eating disorders, I believe protein shouldn’t become another food rule to obsess over. It should instead be understood as one part of a balanced picture, one that supports not just your body, but also your mood, appetite, and relationship with food.

What Protein Actually Does
Protein is far more than a muscle builder. It repairs and maintains every cell in the body, from skin and hair to hormones and enzymes. It supports immunity, helps regulate appetite and blood sugar, and prevents sharp highs and lows. It also supports mental health by providing amino acids that become neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.

How Much Protein Do We Really Need?
For most adults, about 0.8–1 gram per kilogram of body weight, or roughly 0.36–0.45 grams per pound, is enough. Active adults, older adults, or those on weight loss medications (like GLP-1s) may benefit from 1.2–1.6 g/kg to help preserve muscle mass and manage satiety. The body can handle moderate extra protein, but chronic excess, such as multiple scoops of powders on top of a high-protein diet, is not magic. It will not double your strength and can crowd out other important foods like fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

Choosing the Right Protein
Animal sources such as chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and dairy are complete and easily absorbed. Plant based options like beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, edamame, nuts, and seeds bring fiber, minerals, and variety. They do not have to be combined in one perfect dish, since your body balances them across the day. What matters most is how these foods make you feel, whether they give steady energy, help with focus, or leave you sluggish. Your experience matters as much as the nutrition facts.
What If You Don’t Like Protein Foods?
Not everyone loves eggs or steak, and that’s okay. Cottage cheese or Greek yogurt can blend into smoothies. Lentils can disappear into soups or sauces. Roasted chickpeas or edamame make satisfying crunchy snacks.

Protein Through the Lens
of Exercise and Age
Exercise increases demand, and protein helps muscles recover and adapt. Spreading intake throughout the day is better than loading up at dinner. Age shifts the picture. Muscle naturally declines, so after 30 years old, protein becomes more protective against weakness and frailty.

Protein’s Influence on Mood,
Appetite, and Binges
Adequate protein provides building blocks for healthy brain chemistry. Skipping it often leads to irritability or fatigue. Consistent protein helps stabilize blood sugar and reduces the roller coaster of hunger and cravings. Balanced protein can also decrease the extremes of hunger that often drive overeating.

Pairing Protein for Balance
Protein works best in combination. Pair it with fiber rich carbs like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for lasting fullness and energy, and add healthy fats such as avocado, nuts, or olive oil to support hormones and brain health. This trio: protein, carbs, and fat, is the true recipe for satiety and balance.
But What If You Only Like Carbs?
This is common, especially if protein is not naturally appealing or if carbs have always been your comfort zone. Try adding protein alongside your favorite carb, like toast with eggs, pasta with chicken, or crackers with cheese. Just as coffee or dark chocolate are acquired tastes, many protein rich foods can be too. Over time, your body connects them with steady energy and fewer crashes, and you may even start to crave them.
Building these pairings step by step helps your body and brain relearn trust in food without restriction, just gentle experimentation.

Balance Over Perfection
Protein is essential, but it is not a magic bullet. Too little leaves you tired, too much can crowd out balance, but the sweet spot supports energy, mood, and stability. The real goal is not chasing a number, but creating meals that nourish your body and mind. Pair protein with foods you enjoy, listen to your body’s signals, and remember that balance always wins over extremes.

Laura Shammah, MS, RDN, specializes in eating disorders and works with a wide range of clients, including those managing PCOS, infertility, hypertension, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, and cancer. She also supports clients training for marathons, women who are pregnant, and individuals seeking to lose or gain weight in a healthy way.

What You Should Know About NAD and Longevity

Think of your body as a high-powered device. Just like your phone needs a charger, your cells rely on something to keep them going. That “charger” is a molecule called NAD, and without it, the body’s energy supply quickly falters. Researchers are fascinated by NAD because its levels decline as we get older, and that drop may play a role in fatigue, slower metabolism, and the body’s ability to repair itself.

This is where the conversation about longevity comes in. While no one has discovered the secret to living forever, scientists are exploring how supporting NAD could help us live healthier for longer. The buzz around it can feel overwhelming, but the science, while still young, is pointing toward some promising ideas.
NAD, short for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is found in every cell of your body. It helps turn food into usable energy and acts as a kind of traffic director for countless reactions that keep you alive. It plays a key role in metabolism, DNA repair, and communication between cells. If you picture your body as a city, NAD is the power grid and the maintenance crew rolled into one. Without enough of it, the system begins to slow down, and that’s part of why scientists suspect it may influence how we age.
Animal studies have shown that higher NAD levels are linked to improved energy, stronger endurance, and even better repair of DNA damage, which is one of the drivers of aging. Some early human research is also encouraging. Small trials suggest that boosting NAD might improve insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, and support healthier blood sugar levels. Still, it is important to keep perspective. Much of this work is in its earliest stages, and we don’t yet know if NAD therapies can actually extend human lifespan. What we do know is that it plays a central role in health, which makes it a promising area of study.
With so much attention, it’s no surprise that supplements aimed at raising NAD have become popular. The two main ones are NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) and NR (nicotinamide riboside), both of which are forms of vitamin B3. They are sold in capsules or powders, marketed as ways to “boost NAD naturally.” So far, they appear safe in short-term studies, but questions remain about long-term effects. Supplements are not strictly regulated, which means quality can vary, and prices can be high. For anyone considering them, it’s wise to consult a doctor, especially if you already take other medications or have health concerns.
The good news is that you don’t need to buy a pill to support your NAD levels. Your everyday choices have a big impact, and they come with no side effects and almost no cost. Regular exercise is one of the most powerful ways to keep NAD pathways active. Even brisk walking or cycling a few times a week makes a difference. Sleep is another critical factor, since the body replenishes and repairs itself at night. Eating patterns matter too. Intermittent fasting and balanced diets rich in whole foods appear to encourage healthier NAD activity. Foods that contain natural sources of B vitamins, such as leafy greens, fish, eggs, and whole grains, also provide the building blocks your body uses to make NAD. Taken together, these habits not only support this molecule but also strengthen nearly every part of your health.
Longevity is about more than how many years we get. It’s about the quality of those years, what scientists call healthspan. While the idea of boosting NAD with supplements is intriguing, it should not distract from the fundamentals of living well. Moving your body, resting deeply, and eating thoughtfully will always matter more than any capsule. In Jewish tradition, there is a concept called shmirat haguf, caring for the body as a sacred responsibility. It’s a reminder that each day of life is valuable, and maintaining our health allows us to live fully in the time we are given.
The science of NAD is still unfolding, and it may one day offer tools that transform how we age. For now, what’s within reach are the choices we make every day. Think of them as simple ways to keep your body’s battery charged: walk more, sleep better, eat real food, and embrace the rhythm of caring for yourself. The promise of longevity may not lie in a bottle, but in how we choose to live right now.

Rabbi Meir Bier and David H. Rosmarin, PhD

In our age of self-promotion and personal branding, humility can appear outdated—almost a weakness. We expect modern leaders to be confident, decisive, even forceful. Yet we also sense that these traits often hide insecurity rather than reveal true strength. Judaism and modern psychology both show why humility is the real key to confidence, leadership, and happiness.

The Torah presents a strikingly different model. It praises Moses—the greatest and most brilliant of Jewish leaders—not for his power, but for his humility. The Talmud describes his humility as total, so much so that he saw himself as “nothing.” But how can this be? How can a leader embody immense authority and still view himself as nothing? Doesn’t humility mean self-doubt that undermines leadership? Conversely, doesn’t power negate humility altogether?
Judaism offers a deeper understanding: humility is not weakness or self-negation, but strength rooted in self-awareness and clarity.
This article, co-written by a rabbi and a psychologist, was itself an exercise in humility. Rabbis focus on sources and tradition; psychologists on lived experience and data. Only by combining perspectives—dialogue instead of dominance—could we begin to understand humility in its fullness.
What follows blends classical Jewish teachings with modern psychology, showing how both converge on the same truth: humility is not the opposite of strength. It is the foundation of emotional health, effective leadership, and lasting happiness.

Arrogance Masks Insecurity
Rabeinu Yona of Girona (c. 1200–1264), a leading medieval Spanish rabbi, ethicist, and Talmudist, best known for his classic work Gates of Repentance, taught that arrogance does not flow from greatness, but from deficiency. The human spirit is lofty; when it senses something missing, it strains under the weight of that gap. To cover the emptiness, a person asserts dominance over others who possess what he lacks.
Arrogance, then, is not strength but fragility. The egomaniac does not mistreat others because he truly feels superior but because he fears he is inadequate. Wealth, beauty, influence, or intellect become shields to hide a gnawing void. But these shields never work.
This insight explains why those who project the most dominance are often deeply insecure. Their arrogance is a desperate strategy to mask fear of being unloved or unworthy. Yet the mask cracks: external superiority cannot replace inner security.
Modern psychology echoes this. Narcissists often appear supremely confident, demanding admiration and bristling with indignation. Yet research shows narcissism is tied to low self-esteem and vulnerability. The appearance of strength is often only a fragile defense.
One CEO Dr. Rosmarin treated, seemed the epitome of toughness: decisive voice, commanding posture, uncompromising authority. But at home, his arrogance alienated his family until they gave him an ultimatum—therapy or separation. In therapy, his facade collapsed. For the first time, he admitted his lifelong fear of inadequacy. His arrogance, he realized, was not confidence but a coping mechanism.
Centuries earlier, Rabeinu Yona captured this truth: arrogance is an attempt to cover insecurity. True humility, by contrast, grows out of emotional wholeness. The humble person does not need to dominate, because their worth is already secure.

Humility as Self-Assurance
Without Entitlement
Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, (1816–1893), known as the Netziv, the Rosh Yeshiva of the famed a theological dimension Volozhin Yeshiva and a leading Torah commentator and halakhic authority of his time, defined humility in a counterintuitive way. A humble person does not belittle themselves or deny their gifts. They may recognize their greatness clearly. The difference is that they do not demand honor or privilege because of it.
The Talmud offers proof. Rabbi Yosse once called himself humble, and the Talmud confirmed it. If humility meant a lack of self-awareness, such a statement would be contradictory; no one, let alone a great sage, could not accurately describe themselves as “humble” if humility means blindness to one’s own worth. Instead, humility means knowing one’s value without insisting on special treatment.
Rabbi Berlin extended this idea further into the theological realm, noting that even G-d is described as humble. Obviously, this cannot mean a lack of self-awareness. It means that true greatness does not require recognition. Humility, therefore, is greatness without entitlement.
This redefinition reframes humility as strength. The arrogant person asserts superiority to hide insecurity; the humble person leads forcefully without needing external validation. Moses could be both decisive and “the humblest of all people” because his self-assurance was rooted in wholeness.
Psychology supports this. Research on authentic self-esteem shows that those whose self-worth is secure—not dependent on others’ approval—are more resilient, less defensive, and more open. Confidence rooted in stability makes humility possible.
One of Dr. Rosmarin’s patients, a gifted young physician, feared being labeled arrogant. She downplayed her achievements and exhausted herself proving her humility. Over time, she learned that acknowledging her gifts was not arrogance but freedom. By accepting recognition without demanding it, she led with grace instead of fear.
This is Rabbi Berlin’s insight: humility is not erasing oneself, but standing in greatness without entitlement.

Humility as the Source of
Honor and Happiness
Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz (1878–1953), known as the Chazon Ish, a preeminent Torah scholar in Israel, took humility in another direction. He taught that character growth does not require erasing self-love. Human beings must love themselves, seek honor, and desire happiness. The real question is: what kind?
True honor, Rabbi Karelitz said, lies in humility—the refusal to chase external accolades. True happiness lies in freeing oneself from the endless pursuit of status.
This reframes humility not as self-denial but as redirection. Instead of building identity on wealth, beauty, or power, the humble person builds on goodness, kindness, and sensitivity. Unlike status, intrinsic goodness cannot be outdone. It lifts others instead of competing with them.
Psychology confirms this. Self-determination theory shows that people who live by intrinsic values—growth, kindness, deep human connection—experience greater well-being than those chasing validation. Studies of self-transcendence also reveal that meaning beyond the self brings higher life satisfaction and resilience.
One entrepreneur Dr. Rosmarin treated spent years chasing luxury and acclaim, yet felt perpetually empty. When he shifted toward mentoring and philanthropy, the emptiness faded. His honor came not from others’ applause, but from a life of substance.
Rabbi Karelitz’s wisdom shines through: humility does not erase self-love, it refines it. By rooting worth in intrinsic goodness, a person gains honor that cannot be taken and happiness that cannot be shaken.

Moses
A Paragon of Humility
We can now understand how Moses embodied both greatness and humility. The teachings of Rabeinu Yona, Rabbi Berlin, and Rabbi Karelitz form a unified vision:

• Arrogance is a mask for insecurity.
• Humility is self-assurance without entitlement.
• True honor and happiness come from rooting worth in goodness.
  Moses embodied this vision. He led decisively yet never demanded honor. That paradox made him history’s most enduring teacher—and remains a challenge for us today.
  In a world obsessed with image, promotion, and competition, Judaism’s vision of humility is countercultural. Real strength is not in domination but in the quiet confidence of knowing one’s worth. Arrogance hides insecurity; humility reveals true self-worth.
  Humility allows individuals to thrive without fear of comparison, families to grow without rivalry, and leaders to guide with conviction and compassion. In a society that prizes appearance over substance, humility is the most radical and transformative form of greatness.

Rabbi Meir Bier is an educator with Meor at the University of Pennsylvania. He studied at the Philadelphia Yeshiva, Brisker Kollel, and Beth Medrash Govoha. He was a member of the Boston Kollel and served as a synagogue rabbi in Newton, Massachusetts.
David H. Rosmarin, PhD, is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, a program director at McLean Hospital, and the founder of the Center for Anxiety. He is an international expert on spirituality and mental health, and his work has been featured in The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and on Good Morning America.

This month’s Community Photo Album celebrates the joy and togetherness of Sukkot. From children creating colorful decorations and learning about the lulav and etrog to families gathering for meals in the sukkah, these moments capture the beauty and meaning of the holiday.
Our community came alive during Chol Hamoed with trips, outdoor events, and classes held beneath the schach. Each photo tells a story of connection, celebration, and gratitude. It reminds us how special it is to share these festive days with family and friends.

And It’s Shaped Your Life More Than You Realize

If you’ve ever wondered how your favorite platforms always seem to know what you want to watch, how your phone finds the fastest way around traffic, or how shopping tools predict your next purchase, the answer is artificial intelligence. AI may sound futuristic, but it has already become part of daily life in ways most people don’t notice. It isn’t only driving research labs or robotics, it’s quietly shaping everyday choices, habits, and routines.

That makes AI both exciting and a little unsettling. On one hand, it saves time and makes life more convenient. On the other, it raises questions about how much data we share and how it’s used. To understand this balance, it helps to look at the ordinary places where AI is already at work.
Think about the last time you opened a streaming service or music app. Behind every recommendation is an algorithm that studies what you’ve watched or listened to, how long you stayed with it, and what people with similar habits enjoyed. The goal is to keep you engaged by predicting your next interest. This can be useful when you’re looking for a new series or playlist, but it can also trap you in a bubble, serving more of the same instead of encouraging variety. Experts suggest mixing in your own searches from time to time so you don’t miss out on something new.
Navigation apps are another quiet showcase of AI. They don’t just map routes, they constantly process live traffic updates, accident reports, and even how fast other drivers are moving. Directions adjust on the fly, shaving minutes off commutes or steering you around a jam. It’s a simple example of machine learning, but it shows how much we already rely on AI to guide us without a second thought. At the same time, these apps know where you go, when you travel, and how often. That information isn’t only used for navigation, it can also feed into advertising profiles, making it worth reviewing your privacy settings.
Shopping tools highlight AI in a different way. When a site suggests products based on what you browsed, or when a grocery app remembers your weekly order, that’s AI predicting behavior. Some retailers use it to keep popular items in stock, while others rely on it to run customer service chatbots. If you’ve ever called a toll-free number and spoken to an automated system that directs you to the right department, or clicked on a website chat box only to find a program answering, you’ve interacted with AI support. It often speeds up simple requests, though it can feel impersonal when you want a human touch.
Advertising is perhaps the most visible sign of AI in daily life. Targeted ads appear in your email, on your social feeds, and across the web. They’re not random, they reflect the messages you open, the posts you like, and the searches you make. AI can even draw on voice commands or your location. Walk past a store, step inside a mall, or type about a product, and you may see an ad for it within hours. Many of the free services we rely on every day stay free by collecting and selling this data to advertisers or third-party companies. The trade-off is personalization at the cost of privacy, with our information treated as a commodity.
Social media takes this influence even further. AI decides which posts rise to the top of your feed, learning quickly from every like, comment, and share. That’s why it often feels like the app “knows” you. The upside is that it connects you with content and communities that match your interests. The downside is that it can trap you in cycles of distraction or feed misinformation. Digital wellness experts recommend setting time limits or clearing your history now and then to help reset the algorithm.
Even the devices in your pocket and home are full of AI. Voice assistants interpret natural language to carry out commands. Smart thermostats learn your patterns and adjust temperatures automatically. Fitness trackers record heart rates and sleeping habits, then suggest routines to improve your health. These tools act like personal helpers, but they also collect sensitive details that can reveal more than you may want shared.
So what can you do if you’d rather limit how much AI follows you? The first step is to explore your phone or app settings. Many services automatically turn data sharing on, so you need to look for options labeled “privacy,” “ad preferences,” or “do not share.” Turning off ad personalization, disabling location tracking when it isn’t needed, and choosing not to share activity history are small but powerful steps. On websites, you can often click “manage cookies” or “opt out” instead of accepting defaults. These tools don’t shut AI off completely, but they give you more say in how your data is used.
The larger point is that AI is not separate from daily life, it’s woven into it. Recognizing that fact helps you make smarter choices, balancing convenience with caution. And you don’t need to be a tech expert to take control. A few quick checks in your settings can limit what is collected without losing the benefits that AI brings.
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and most of its uses aim to make life more comfortable. But comfort should not come at the cost of control. By noticing how AI shapes your day, from the shows you stream to the ads that follow you, you can enjoy the benefits without giving away too much. The key is not to fear AI, but to approach it with awareness and deliberate choices.

How Israeli Tech Is Shaping the Market

Walk through Tel Aviv on a weekday morning and you’ll see a city buzzing with ideas. Cafés double as office spaces, rooftop terraces host meetings, and co-working hubs brim with young founders and engineers. Israel has earned the nickname “Startup Nation” for good reason. With one of the highest numbers of startups per capita in the world, the country has built a reputation for innovation that stretches far beyond its borders.

What many people don’t realize is how often these ideas end up on Wall Street. Over the past two decades, more than 100 Israeli companies have gone public on U.S. exchanges. They span industries ranging from cybersecurity and biotech to artificial intelligence and communications, highlighting how Israeli innovation doesn’t just stay local but plays out on the global stage. Israel now ranks fourth in the number of Nasdaq-listed companies by country, behind only the United States, Canada, and China.
There is no single type of company that defines Israel’s presence on the market. Instead, the variety is striking. Cybersecurity firms, biotech researchers, software providers, mobility innovators, and financial technology platforms all call Israel home. Each represents a piece of the country’s wider story: a small nation that punches far above its weight in science and technology.
Some of these names may already be familiar. Mobileye, founded in Jerusalem, pioneered the vision systems used in advanced driver-assistance and autonomous vehicles. The company’s technology is inside cars around the world, even if drivers don’t realize it. monday.com, with its colorful and easy-to-use project management tools, has become a fixture in offices globally. CyberArk is another standout, recognized as one of the world’s leading cybersecurity firms. Behind each of these tickers, MBLY, MNDY, and CYBR, is a story rooted in Israel’s culture of innovation.
Beyond the big names are dozens of smaller, specialized firms. Israeli biotech startups have listed on U.S. exchanges with research ranging from oral insulin capsules to new cancer therapies. Satellite technology companies have raised capital to expand communications infrastructure far beyond Israel’s borders. Software firms that began in modest offices in Herzliya or Haifa are now shaping how international businesses operate. For every well-known giant, there are five lesser-known innovators quietly pushing their fields forward.
This variety is not accidental. Israel invests more in research and development as a share of GDP than any other country in the world, about 4.3 percent compared to the U.S. at around 2.8 percent. That level of investment helps explain the breadth and pace of innovation that fuels new public offerings and global impact. Just as important, venture capital firms around the world see the opportunity and continue to pour money into Israeli startups. Billions of dollars in VC funding flow into the country each year, giving entrepreneurs the backing they need to grow from small labs and offices into global players ready for Wall Street.
The sectors where Israel excels also reflect broader global trends. Cybersecurity remains a constant focus as companies and governments around the world look for ways to protect their data. Health and biotech draw on Israel’s strong medical research institutions, producing therapies and devices that have the potential to improve lives worldwide. Artificial intelligence and mobility solutions connect Israel’s engineering talent with industries that are rapidly reshaping everyday experiences. For market watchers, this mix of innovation ensures that Israeli companies appear across a wide spectrum of sectors.
One of the most exciting traits of Israel’s tech ecosystem is its velocity. Startups can rise quickly, attract international attention, and reach the stock market faster than many of their global peers. Some companies go public, while others are acquired by larger firms eager to capture their talent and intellectual property. The result is a steady stream of fresh names for those who keep an eye on market listings.
It is important to remember that following these developments does not require being a professional investor. The stock market is simply another lens through which to watch Israel’s impact on global innovation. Spotting an Israeli name in financial headlines can be a reminder that the technology shaping our work, health, and transportation often began in a small office or lab across the Mediterranean.
Looking ahead, a number of Israeli companies are set to expand their reach and capture worldwide attention. Navan is reinventing corporate travel and expense management with a sleek software suite. Claroty and Cato Networks are cybersecurity firms protecting everything from Fortune 100 companies to national infrastructure. Gauzy is pushing the boundaries of smart-glass and vision-control technology now used by automakers and aircraft manufacturers.
eToro, a retail trading platform, recently made its Nasdaq debut, opening global access to new kinds of investing. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the country’s largest defense and aerospace company, is preparing to go public with a massive valuation. And StoreDot, still privately held, is drawing attention for its ultra-fast electric vehicle batteries that promise to charge a car in minutes.
For investors there is an added dimension. Buying shares of Israeli companies not only offers the potential for profit, but also supports the country’s thriving culture of innovation. Many Israeli firms on U.S. exchanges have delivered strong results, especially in sectors where Israel has a global edge. Even carving out a small slice of a portfolio for Israeli companies can be a meaningful way to align financial goals with confidence in the Startup Nation’s future.
So the next time you skim the financial pages or hear about a tech company making headlines, take a closer look at its origins. If it started in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or Haifa, you are seeing the Startup Nation’s story unfold in real time, not just in research labs or office parks, but on the global stage of the stock market where performance and pride often go hand in hand.

How Jews helped to create the quintessential American holiday

Dr. Yvette Alt Miller

Modeling the first Thanksgiving
on Sukkot
America’s first Thanksgiving holiday took place in 1621, just a few months after the first Pilgrim settlers first landed on the shores of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. They arrived in the New World just as winter was approaching, and spent their first few months in Massachusetts huddled on the Mayflower boat that had brought them from England, subsisting on the ship’s stores of food. Fully half of the Pilgrims perished over the winter.
When the weather began to improve, they ventured onto land. March 21 was the day the Pilgrims officially left the Mayflower and began to farm and build homesteads. The Pilgrims were aided by members of the local Abenaki, Pawtuxet and Wampanoag tribes, particularly by a Pawtuxet man named Squanto who had an amazing history. He had been kidnapped some years previously by an English ship captain, had learned English, and eventually returned to his tribe in Massachusetts. With Squanto’s aid, the Pilgrims succeeded in cultivating native crops.
At harvest time, the Pilgrims declared a three-day long feast of Thanksgiving to thank G-d for their harvest. Deeply religious Christians, the Pilgrims were well acquainted with the Hebrew Bible and Jewish holidays, including the autumn festival of Sukkot, when Jewish pilgrims brought offerings from their harvests to the Temple in Jerusalem. Some see the first American Thanksgiving was an attempt to thank G-d for His beneficence in a new place, and to a new set of Pilgrims, a conscious imitation of Sukkot.
Pilgrim leader William Bradford had another Jewish custom in mind when he declared a service of thanksgiving soon after the Pilgrims made landfall in 1620. He opened his Bible and led the Pilgrims in reciting Psalm 107. Incredibly, the annotations in Bradford’s Bible, written by the English clergyman Henry Ainsworth, quoted the Medieval Jewish Sage Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon (Rambam), whose legal work the Mishnah Torah directs Jews to recite a prayer based on Psalm 107 after making a dangerous journey and overcoming other obstacles. It seems that the very first American act of Thanksgiving had Jewish roots as William Bradford incorporated Jewish traditions into his first thanksgiving prayers in the New World.

Ensuring Jews Can Celebrate Thanksgiving
During Colonial times, it was common for colonies to declare special days of thanksgiving at times of prosperity and good fortune. Shearith Israel, the oldest synagogue in America, eagerly took part. Established in 1654 by Sephardi Jews seeking refuge from the Portuguese Inquisition in Brazil, Shearith Israel (also known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue) took part in various thanksgiving celebrations that were declared by New York’s colonial governor. Shearith Israel wrote new prayers and included prayers of thanksgiving during these colonial thanksgiving days.
There were times, however, when New York’s Colonial Governor insisted that special days of thanksgiving have a specifically Christian character. (This was true of other colonies as well, which sometimes insisted that days of thanksgiving be celebrated with Christian prayers.) At these times, Shearith Israel had no choice but to refrain from taking part. The synagogue’s predicament became known to George Washington, thanks to the synagogue’s leader, Gershom Mendes Seixas, the congregation’s cantor who was devoted to the cause of American Independence, and his family.
Many of Shearith Israel’s members joined the Continental Army and fought with George Washington; approximately 20 members of the synagogue died in America’s revolutionary war. After the war, Seixas was selected to be one of the small number of clergy people present at George Washington’s presidential inauguration. When the new President declared a national day of Thanksgiving for the new United States in 1789, he specifically made his day of thanks non-denominational, ensuring that his Jewish supporters could fully take part in America’s first national thanksgiving festival.
Gershom Mendes’ Seixas brother Moses was active in his own synagogue in Rhode Island, Kahal Kadosh Yeshuat Yisrael (later called the Touro Synagogue). In 1790, seven years after the conclusion of America’s War of Independence, President George Washington visited that synagogue and Moses Seixas delivered him a warm letter of affection on behalf of his congregation. President Washington responded with a letter of his own, in which he famously reiterated his strong belief that America was not to be a Christian nation, but one to which all peoples could equally contribute and call home.
“All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship,” Washington wrote. “For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it all on occasions their effectual support…” It was a strong reminder that America’s national character must include all its citizens, no matter what their religious persuasion.

The Shavuot Connection
Thanksgiving only became a regular, annual holiday in 1863. That was thanks in large part to one woman: Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of America’s most popular journal, Godey’s Ladies Journal.
Hale was a progressive idealist. Each year, starting in 1846, she published a public appeal in Godey’s, asking the government to establish a national day of Thanksgiving across the entire country. Notably, she called for a day of Thanksgiving in which all Americans, including Jews, could take part. Hale made specific reference to a key Jewish holiday in her annual appeal, “Pentecost,” which is a Greek name for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, the day G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.
Hale saw this Jewish holiday as a time for family gatherings and giving charity so that no poor household would be left out of the national celebration. (Hale lived in New Hampshire, which had a small Jewish population, it’s possible she observed the ways that Jews support their communities with charity, ensuring that all members have the resources to celebrate festivals such as Shavuot and other Jewish holidays.)
“The noble annual feast day of our Thanksgiving resembles, in some respects, the Feast of Pentecost, which was, in fact, the yearly season of Thanksgiving with the Jews,” Hale insisted in the pages of her magazine, year after year. Fixing a regular Thanksgiving day “would then have a national character…. It is a festival which will never become obsolete, for it cherishes the best affections of the heart – the social and domestic ties. It calls together the dispersed members of the family circle, and brings plenty, joy and gladness to the dwellings of the poor and lowly.”
President Lincoln finally listened to Hale’s entreaties – and those of her many readers and admirers – and proclaimed the final Thursday in November to be an annual holiday of Thanksgiving across the United States. Deep in the Civil War, it was the hope of many that a national day of Thanksgiving could help heal the country’s wounds.

The Jew Who Changed the Date of Thanksgiving
For years, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November: until a Jewish businessman helped alter the date – and provoked a firestorm across America.
In 1939, there were five Thursdays in November and Thanksgiving fell on November 30. With the economy in depression, merchants were worried that a late Thanksgiving would mean an unusually short Christmas shopping season, as in the 1930s it was customary to start decorating stores and promoting Christmas merchandise only after the Thanksgiving holiday.
American retailers lobbied President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to bring Thanksgiving forward a week, to November 23, to help America’s embattled retailers. The leader of the push was Fred Lazarus, Jr., the Jewish chairman of the Federated Department Stores, a national retailing grouping he’d organized in 1930 to link stores in different communities by sharing a financial base. (Federated Department Stores eventually became Macy’s.)
Lazarus’ logic appealed to President Roosevelt, who changed Thanksgiving from the final Thursday of November to the third Thursday of the month in order to help the nation’s merchants. This provoked a swift backlash from conservative states and politicians, some of whom seized on the change to promote antisemitic tinged criticisms of President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies. Critics called the “new” Thanksgiving “Franksgiving” and many states refused to celebrate it.
The backlash fell along party lines. As the New England Historical Society notes, “Republicans called Roosevelt’s declaration an affront to the memory of Lincoln. People began referring to the ‘Republican Thanksgiving (last Thursday) and the ‘Democratic Thanksgiving’ (fourth Thursday) as ‘Franksgiving’.”
President Roosevelt changed Thanksgiving back to its original date in 1941. Fred Lazarus Jr. went on to contribute to the American war effort, serving as vice-chairman of the Retail Advisory Council of the National Council of Defense. He also served on the Office of Price Administration and the War Production Board during World War II. After the war, President Eisenhower appointed Lazarus to the President’s Committee on Government Contracts, where Lazarus was a voice for fair labor practices. He passed away in 1973.

Inventing Thanksgiving Day Parade
No Thanksgiving would be complete without watching a Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tradition started by the descendants and business partners of a Jewish immigrant named Adam Gimbel.
Born in 1817 in Bavaria, Gimbel moved to America where he worked as a dock hand and then a travelling peddler. He soon gained a sterling reputation as a scrupulously honest businessman who treated all people fairly, no matter what their background. Gimbel founded Gimbels Department Store in Milwaukee. He later expanded to Philadelphia; after his death, he sons expanded Gimbel’s further, opening a store in New York City.
In 1920, Bernard Gimbel, Adam’s grandson, held the first Thanksgiving Day Parade, sponsoring a huge spectacle that marched from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Gimbel’s Department Store at 8th and Market Streets. Each year, until the last Gimbels’ Parade in 1986, the department store sponsored Philadelphia’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy’s in New York started their own Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, in a clear imitation of Gimbels’.

Creating America’s Green Bean Casserole
The iconic green bean casserole topped with crunchy fried onions that many Americans enjoy on Thanksgiving has a remarkable story, and was popularized in the 1950s by the Jewish food writer Cecily Brownstone. In 1955, Ms. Brownstone wrote a story about a journalists’ dinner she’d attended at the home of John Snively Jr., a pioneering citrus grower in Florida.
At the dinner, Mrs. Snively served a delicious green bean casserole – and shared a remarkable story about that signature dish. The Snivelys had recently hosted the Shah of Iran and his wife, and Mrs. Snively made her delicious green bean casserole. The Iranian Queen was so taken with the dish that she kept asking about its ingredients. The Snivelys’ butler answered each question, until he finally lost his patience and told the royal, “Listen, lady, it’s just beans and stuff.”

Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life

Natalie Senior Greenberg

The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City has unveiled a fascinating new exhibit dedicated to the Book of Psalms and the art of illuminated manuscripts. This exhibition offers visitors a rare opportunity to explore the intricate beauty, religious significance, and historical context of some of the world’s most remarkable medieval artworks. The exhibit underscores the enduring power of Tehillim and the creative genius of the scribes and artists who brought these sacred texts to life.

Tehillim is the Hebrew name for the Book of Psalms, which translates to “praises.” It consists of 150 poems or chapters. These psalms are songs of praise, lament, gratitude, and supplication to Hashem, used in both joyous and desperate times. In medieval Europe, during the 12th to 14th centuries, these texts were not only read and recited but were also lavishly decorated, forming part of personal prayer books.
The Morgan Library’s exhibit centers around illuminated manuscripts, the handwritten books adorned with gold leaf, vibrant pigments, and intricate illustrations. These manuscripts were created by skilled artisans working in scriptoria, or writing rooms, set aside for the writing, copying, and illumination of manuscripts. Each page is a testament to painstaking labor and artistic vision, featuring elaborate initial letters, border decorations, and miniature paintings that interpret the Psalms’ themes. The illumination of Psalms served both aesthetic and devotional purposes. Gold and rich colors reflected the heavenly realm, while images of biblical figures and scenes helped readers visualize the stories and prayers.
The show begins with the exquisite Carcassonne Bible made in Avignon in 1422 for a Jewish physician. On display is the introductory page to the Book of Psalms. “Tehillim” is embellished in gold letters and surrounded by decorative stripes of green, blue, and red. The borders are highly decorated with ribbons, flowers, and birds. Due to religious persecution and censorship, few Hebrew manuscripts from this era have survived, but fortunately we are able to view another rare example from Bologna, Italy. King David, who composed and compiled the Book of Psalms, is frequently depicted in the manuscripts as a wise elder, wearing a gold crown and holding a harp.
Visitors can also view medieval Psalters from the Morgan’s renowned collection, some dating back to the 12th century. Not all are Hebrew or Jewish, as non-Jews also used books of Psalms or Psalters. These books feature extraordinary examples of calligraphy and illuminated initials. Many of these Psalters include pages depicting scenes from the life of King David, as well as religious figures and scenes from other faiths and traditions, rendered in stunning detail. There are also interactive displays allowing guests to “turn” virtual pages and examine details up close, revealing techniques and materials used by medieval craftsmen.
The new exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum is on display through January 4, 2026. Whether you are an art lover, a student of history, or simply curious about the spiritual and artistic heritage of the Psalms, this show offers a window into a world where beauty and devotion intertwine. Through its extraordinary collection and innovative displays, the exhibit honors the legacy of medieval scribes and illuminators, reminding us that art and faith have long been partners in the human quest for meaning.