This Luxurious Jewish Food & Wine Retreat in California in September Aims To Be Mouthwatering

For foodies and oenophiles looking to indulge in a California wine country weekend getaway, you couldn’t pick a better place for a Jewish culinary retreat than the rolling hills and sprawling vineyards of Sonoma County. This idyllic Bay Area setting is home to URJ Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, a 500-acre Jewish summer sleepaway camp and year-round luxury retreat center.

With Oct. 7 on their minds, Jewish teens head to gathering of thousands with renewed sense of priorities

When 18-year-old TJ Katz was elected last February to be international president of BBYO after four years of deep involvement with the Jewish youth organization, the New Jersey teen was exceedingly excited. Serving as the face of a movement that reaches over 70,000 teens in 62 countries, Katz told an interviewer, put him in a unique position “to tangibly impact the lives of thousands of people.”

After graduating high school, Katz deferred admission by a year to the University of Florida to focus on his role as BBYO’s so-called Grand Aleph Godol — top leader — just as the organization was on the threshold of celebrating its 100th anniversary. Then came Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the ensuing surge in antisemitic and anti-Israel ferment.

Antisemitism summit in NY expected to draw thousands, from boldfaced names to students

When actor and director David Schwimmer stood up last November to talk about his experience with hate and the importance of building alliances to combat racism and antisemitism, the “Friends” star emphasized the importance of speaking up.

“One of the biggest problems is silence. As I’ve said, silence is complicity, and so I try to urge people to speak out,” Schwimmer said at the annual ADL summit on antisemitism and hate, called Never Is Now.
"I think it’s my responsibility. I don’t do enough but I do what I can and what I feel is appropriate at the time. I think we could always do more."

The Jerusalem University That’s a Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

In 1964, the Hebrew University created a research development company to help market technological innovations developed at the university. It has produced some global successes.

“Think big, invent big,” Fraenkel said of the university’s legacy. “It’s endless curiosity and creativity, side-by-side with boundless humanism and very good science.”

7 ways to offer support and Jewish strength to friends or loved ones facing cancer

When Shoshana Polakoff, 40, received an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis three years ago, the mother of three young children needed extra support. Her friends, family and Jewish community in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan immediately stepped up.

Too often, however, friends and loved ones of cancer patients are at a loss for how to respond when someone close to them is diagnosed with cancer.

With Israel in turmoil, group of US rabbis visits with a mission: to listen and learn

President Isaac Herzog has warned about the possibility of civil war, American Jews have been watching with grave concern. It was precisely at this fraught moment that UJA-Federation of New York decided to bring a group of rabbis from the New Yorkarea to Israel — to listen, learn and talk with key Israeli figures, and to communicate the nuances of what they heard back to their communities in New York.

Profiling "Teen Heroes" for JTA...

Recently, I've had the opportunity to profile some inspiring teens for the "Teen Heroes" column for JTA. 

If you know of a teenager trying to change the world with outstanding acts of tikkun olam (healing the world), please let me know!