Articles

’Buy Israeli’ fairs, for shoppers who won’t make the trip to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv this year, are sweeping America New York — Merchants from Jerusalem’s Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall had their busiest day in more than a year one Sunday in early May, when 10,000 enthusiastic customers snapped up… Read more...

Entering a New York City taxi cab, more information than one might want awaits the astute fare. With one breath, you can tell if the driver smokes; with one ear, you can tell if he’s a traffic-and- weather junkie, a Christian radio devotee or a jazz maven. The first thing I look for is the name of… Read more...

Muslims account for about a fifth of the kosher food sales in the United States. But while Jewish dietary laws are similar to Islamic halal - there are some obstacles to full-scale cooperation. Sometime in 1997, the Muslim and Jewish chaplains Mt. Holyoke College had to deal with an emergency. The… Read more...

Teacha! Stories from a Yeshiva By Gery Albarelli Glad Day Books 104pp.; $10.95, Strange Bedfellows: An Italian-Catholic teacher finds his way into the hearts of his Satmar Hasid students. I think it was Woody Allen who once turned Shaw’s quote on its head when he observed, “Those who can’t teach… Read more...

The stone-faced members of the U.S. Secret Service and of the Israeli Shin Bet’s VIP protection unit all boasted the wire dangling from one ear, close-cropped haircuts, dark suits and ties. But you could tell them apart, during the Shabbat service at Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East… Read more...

Putting a mezuzah on the doll’s house is just one of many ways to turn your home into ‘Jewish space’ Maybe you can’t judge a book by its cover, or even by its title, but that didn’t stop fellow riders on several Manhattan buses and subways from offering their comments about Anita Diamant’s new… Read more...

Dear Diary, The place is the entrance to Riverside Park at 84th Street, where Joseph Dembo notices a tiny woman talking to her tiny dog. As he saunters by he hears the woman say, “I have enough neuroses of my own, Toby, therefore I can’t cope with yours.” . . . The place and time: a crowded M66 bus… Read more...