Reform called good for Egypt; bad for America, Israel

A posting has made the rounds on Facebook and Twitter in recent days: "Dear Egyptian Rioters: Please do not destroy the pyramids. We will not rebuild. Love, the Jews."

A humorous commentary, but the tongue-in-cheek post also points to a larger truth about the current turmoil in Egypt and its impact on Israel: A more open and freer Egyptian society would bring many positive democratic reforms to governance for its people, but it would most likely not usher in warmer relations with Israel.

Where the boys are

Frogs and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails -- that's what little boys are made of, says the old nursery rhyme. But active in Jewish institutional life?

It seems, they are not.

A recently released study titled "Engaging Jewish Teenage Boys: A Call to Action," and conducted by the Philadelphia-based organization, Moving Traditions, found that teenage boys drop out of Jewish institutions in large numbers shortly after becoming b'nai mitzvah -- and they rarely come back.

Latkes and loot: Is Chanukah for grown-ups?

My catalogue-stuffed mailbox was the first reminder that Chanukah, or rather the season of shopping, was fast approaching.

Years of Hebrew school had taught me, despite its proximity to Christmas, that Jews were not supposed to commemorate the miracle of a small jar of oil by collecting lots of loot.

Yet I wondered, without the anticipation of gifts, would the festival of lights still be as festive for grown-ups? Does the atmosphere of play still surround the chanukiyah of those over the age of consent?

Couscous and truffles

Top Israeli chef Mika Sharon, her face flushed and her hair swept up in a clip, last week shared with her D.C. dinner guests the Mediterranean-inspired menu that she had prepared for them.

"And please let me know if you don't like it," instructed Sharon, who trained at the French Culinary Institute, hosts cooking shows on Israeli television and operates several popular restaurants in Tel Aviv.

These dinner guests, however, weren't typical: They were homeless.

A curtain call for Terezin

With a touch of irony and a nod of his head, Edgar Krasa, 90, acknowledged his dramatic "role" as a survivor from Terezin.

"Otherwise, I couldn't be here," the real-life Holocaust survivor said.

Krasa and fellow survivors shared their "insiders' perspectives" of their time in the Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp in Czechoslovakia in 1941.

But their recollection of the camp's improbable musical chorus -- and its courageous young conductor, Rafael Schaechter -- was the focus of the evening's program

The second day of Rosh Hashanah: To be (in shul) or not to be

With its seemingly red-headed stepchild status outside the more traditional segments of the Jewish community, what is the significance of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, anyway?

When the ancient Israelites started celebrating the “head of the year” 2,000 years ago it was, in fact, a one-day holiday.

For two kinds of ‘survivors,’ filling in the gaps on family medical history

A crucial question that doctors routinely ask patients left Rifky Atkin speechless.

Diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer, Atkin was exploring treatment options when her surgeon asked, “Is there a family history of breast cancer in your family?”

The mother of four from Edison, N.J., stammered, “I don’t know and I’ll never know.”

Her parents survived Auschwitz as teenagers, she explained, but not their parents. Her four grandparents were killed in the death camp, taking with them all knowledge of the family medical history.