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B'nei mitzvah

Eliana Rafal

May 1, 2019, 2:55 pm Edit

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ELIANA RAFAL, daughter of Lisa and Alan Rafal of Scotch Plains, March 2 at Temple Emanu-El, Westfield.

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B’nei mitzvah
Lifecycles

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July 6, 2022

Right Now

Finding Refuge in America, attributed to Joseph Keller, and published in New York by the Hebrew Publishing Company in 1909. (Courtesy of the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary)

Happy Fourth of July

(Courtesy of the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary)

Happy Fourth of July

Keshet Starr speaks in Chicago.

New offices and new approaches for agunah activists

By Larry Yudelson

Organization for the Resolution of Agunot moves quarters to Teaneck

Jen Maxfield is at home on camera.(All photos courtesy Jen Maxfield)

First rough draft of history

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Local NBC reporter Jen Maxfield talks about her new book

The shooter does not win

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Beth Kissileff talks about being in Squirrel Hill, and what she’s learned from it

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The brain drain

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Our analyst, Alexander Smukler, looks at this week’s war in Ukraine

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Rockower awards and beluga whales

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Rabbi Alan Silverstein

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Raphael Benaroya

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A Chabad emissary helps a man wrap tefillin on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv. (Amir Appel/Flickr Commons)

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Andrew Silow-Carroll

Religion for non-believers: It’s a Jewish thing

No trunks! How sad!

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B’nai Jeshurun’s stunning old building in Newark is being renovated.(Lewis Stone)

Renovating B’nai Jeshurun

By Joanne Palmer

Father-son pair brings new life to stunning old Newark building

Cracking the case of the overworked doctor

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Drake holds a Jewish wedding (with 23 brides) in his latest music video

By Jackie Hajdenberg and Andrew Lapin

Putin speaks at the 2019 Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum. (Presidential Press and Information Office)

What happened at the Russian Davos?

By Joanne Palmer

Alexander Smukler of Montclair continues his analysis of Putin’s war against Ukraine

This is Cassville Crossroads Historic District in Jackson Township, on September 9, 2012.

New Jersey town agrees to repeal ordinance allegedly aimed at keeping out yeshivas

Leslie Dannin Rosenthal

Empowering small Jewish congregations

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Leslie Dannin Rosenthal adds to her challenging communal portfolio

Tamar Appel, right, talks with Claire Wurtzel, the co-educational director of Hidden Sparks, at a Learning Lenses meeting.

Hidden Sparks helps find each child’s own light

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Tamar Appel becomes the nonprofit’s director of education

Did you pay a shiva call?

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Starting to travel again

Jews and Muslims are together at the Nida-ul-Islam mosque. Joseph Kaplan is at the far right.

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Joseph C. Kaplan

Sharing similarities and celebrating differences

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Oil is always thicker than human rights

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A misread narrative that fuels contempt

Tzivia Bieler, right, is next to her daughter, Lara Kwalbrun. From left, she’s with her son-in-law, Dr. Mark Kwalbrun, and some of the Kwalbruns’ kids — Estair, Tselya, Hadar, Chaki, and Raanan.

It’s all uphill on Mother’s Day

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The Jewish Theological Seminary’s renovated library has a new exhibit about the Jewish home.

‘To build a new home’

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New library at JTS exhibits ketubot as it celebrates new beginnings

Monument of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The dragon’s last gasp

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Alexander Smukler continues his look at the war in Ukraine, and at Putin

Tamar Appel, right, talks with Claire Wurtzel, the co-educational director of Hidden Sparks, at a Learning Lenses meeting.

Hidden Sparks helps find each child’s own light

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Tamar Appel of Englewood becomes the nonprofit’s director of education

Rabbi Rachel Salston, left, Tzivya Kraus

‘Across the Spectrums’

By Miriam Allenson

Fair Lawn shuls to celebrate being Jewish and gay

Na la’amod — please stand for your aliyah. (Design by Jackie Hajdenberg/JTA)

Please stand

By Joanne Palmer

The Conservative movement offers a gender-neutral call to the Torah

Meet ShvomBob Kvadrat-hoyzn — um, SpongeBob SquarePants

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Local Jewish leaders accompany Ethiopian olim to Israel

By Maxim Dinshtein for The Jewish Agency for Israel

Maxim Dinshtein for The Jewish Agency for Israel

Dreams

Let’s talk about dreams. When I was 11 years old, I would daydream about meeting, falling in love with, and marrying Rick Springfield. It all made perfect sense to me. We were going to meet at Sam Goody’s, the local record store, strike up a... Continue Reading

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Looking toward the summer

Opinion

Eating treif

Opinion

Raphael Benaroya

U.S. needs to reset its relationships in the Middle East

Opinion

Andrew Silow-Carroll

An app that identifies trees and flowers is changing my life

Staffers get into the spirit of Messy Day at Cedar Lake Camp last summer. (New Jersey Y Camps)

‘Where you want to be’

By Joanne Palmer

New Jersey Y Camps prepare for the summer of 2022

This machine paints Jewish avocados

By Larry Yudelson

Estie and Joel Bryk stand behind the wheelchair of Ms. Bryk’s mother, Rosalyn Zelig, as she gets off the plane. To the right are three generations of family who came to greet her.

‘She’s there to hold my hand’

By Abigail Klein Leichman

B’Lev Shalem helps English-speaking Israelis when their elderly parents make aliyah

Temple Emanu-El is renting space from Temple Beth Am in Bayonne. Inset, Rabbi Shaul Praver

New hope for Bayonne’s Conservative community

By Joanne Palmer

Rabbi Shaul Praver, whose varied career ranges from Sandy Hook through a prison chaplaincy, takes the helm

Rachel Tiven (Leslie Von Pless)

Why it matters to be gay and Jewish

By Joanne Palmer

Lawyer-turned-historian Rachel Tiven looks at Harvey Milk and Ed Koch for Pride Shabbat in Livingston

Week two — Shavuot

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Thoughts on a picnic

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Shammai Engelmayer

Our ‘heart of hearts’ must remain united

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Joseph C. Kaplan

A blessed youth

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Thinking about toy guns

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Miryam Z. Wahrman Ph.D.

Masks still save lives

Opinion

Max L. Kleinman

In praise of moderation

A Charlton Heston-like Moses
stands between blessings and
curses as the Israelites look skyward. (All images courtesy Joel Silverstein)

Brushes with the Bible

By Joanne Palmer

The Tanach art of Mahwah’s Joel Silverstein

A few words about horror, guns, and Israel

By Larry Yudelson

Assemblyman Gary Schaer, left, and Senator Vin Gopal (Zush Photography)

Voting for Jewish education

By Larry Yudelson

TeachNJ dinner showcases group’s legislative successes

This is an T-62 tank; it’s a Cold War product, old and unsophisticated. The Russians have shipped T-62s out of storage in Siberia to replace the sophisticated new tanks the Ukrainians have destroyed.

‘Putin is not going to stop’

By Joanne Palmer

Alexander Smukler of Montclair looks back at the war’s first 90 days — and then he looks ahead grimly

(All photos courtesy Yeshiva University)

Yeshiva University celebrates its graduates

Seeking applicants for Teen Leadership Program

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Memorial Day and Shavuot

OPINION

The composition

Week One

Before I begin, please know that I do take the whole death and mourning and shiva situation very seriously. I am extremely sensitive to the fact that there are people out there who are going through impossible health situations and losses and tragedies. This... Continue Reading

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The graveyard in my heart

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