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Emek Hebrew Academy celebrates 58th Annual Trustee dinner Emek Hebrew Academy Teichman Family Torah Center’s 58th Annual Trustee Dinner took place on February 21st at the Petersen Automotive Museum. This year’s dinner was dedicated to the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education and the legacy…

Humor: Achdus Upside-Down Rebecca Klempner Recently, social media, public spaces, dinner tables, and even classrooms have been filled with raised voices, finger pointing, and Unfriending—not to mention Unfriending’s passive-aggressive cousin, Unfollowing. (I’ve probably already Unfollowed you. You just haven’t realized yet.) It’s hard to get…

Dear readers, Anti-Semites should be celebrating the state of Israel. For years they didn’t have a mainstream rallying cry with which they could openly hate Jews. Saying we’re “leaches” or “control the world” made the average American squirm. No longer. It is now fashionable and…

Can a liquid become inherently forbidden if a forbidden taste is added to it? Rabbi Shmuel Wise, Maggis Shiur at realcleardaf.com This question came up this week on Friday’s daf (108). We are presented there with arguably the most classic case of forbidden mixtures: a…

AIGYA Founder Phyllis Folb Receives Cohon Memorial Award Previous Winners Include Stand With Us and Museum of Tolerance Phyllis Folb, the American Israel Gap Year Association’s (AIGYA) Founder and Executive Director, received the Rabbi Samuel S. and A. Irma Cohon Memorial Foundation Award for individuals…

Dear readers, Man’s search for meaning—This, said famed neurologist Viktor Frankl, was man’s true pursuit. Not the pursuit of pleasure, not the pursuit of money. He realized this in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. He found that people who had a reason to live…

Is the gid hanasheh halachically considered a food? Rabbi Shmuel Wise, Maggid Shiur at realcleardaf.com We dealt with this question on Wednesday’s daf this week (92b). Rav there makes the surprising statement that the main branch of the sciatic nerve itself is not prohibited whatsoever,…

Book Reviews: The King’s Horse by Leah Sokol (Feldheim Publishers 2019) and Creation Colors by Ann D. Koffsky (2019 Apples & Honey Press) Reviewed by Rebecca Klempner The King’s Horse by Leah Sokol employs a novel perspective—that of Achashveirosh’s trusty steed—to provide a fanciful, yet…

Are beheimah and chayah groups or elements? Rabbi Shmuel Wise The answer to this question sheds light on Thursday’s daf (79) this week, which discusses hybrid animals. The main topic of our perek is the prohibition against slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the…

Book Reviews: Sarah Builds a School by Ann D. Koffsky and Leslie Ginsparg Klein (Menucha Publishers/Menucha Classroom Solutions 2018) & A Time for Vengeance by Nathaniel Wyckoff (2018) Reviewed by Rebecca Klempner While Angeleno Nathaniel Wyckoff has previously written a science-fiction/adventure series for middle grade…

Inclusion of Anti-Semitic Piece Mars Los Angeles Art Show Rabbi Shalom Rubanowitz and Shlomo (Sam) Rubanowitz January 23-27th, the Los Angeles Convention Center hosted the L.A. Art Show. It was a scene for art lovers to marvel at—unless you cared about Holocaust Remembrance, anti-Semitism, and…

Matt Gottlieb: From Israel to Hollywood Rebecca Klempner Although he doesn’t feel like he’s received his “big break” yet, you may already recognize Matt Gottlieb’s face—or his voice. An Israeli-born actor, Gottlieb, is part of surge of Israeli programming hitting English-language platforms. Last year, he…

Dear readers, Lashon hara: One might say this is the single most destructive behavior in a community. It creates a deep mistrust when community members constantly hear others spoken about with derision. It leads to division and competitiveness. It significantly hampers any activities needing collaboration.…