Rest in Peace Leiby Kletzky

By Ilana Angel
Published on July 13, 2011

Everyone is Suddenly Irish on March 17th!

By Julia Bendis
Published on March 18, 2011

Valentine’s Day Peep Show!

By Julia Bendis
Published on February 14, 2011

Decals on my car - don’t want any!

By Julia Bendis
Published on February 10, 2011

Behind the Music: The Wedding Singer

By Michael Aushenker
Published on November 7, 2002

In the 1998 hit comedy "The Wedding Singer," the eponymous character was a nice Jewish boy named Robbie. At the Sept. 2 Century City Park Hyatt reception of 30-something newlyweds Daphna Ghozland and David Hollander, the wedding singer is a nice Jewish boy named Robbie. True, the latter -- singer/pianist/bandleader Robbie Helperin -- will occasionally perform the odd '80s pop song with his Simcha Orchestra as Adam Sandler did in the movie, but that's where the parallels end, or at least, that's where Helperin would like them to end.

"It was kind of painful to watch," Helperin said of the movie that immortalized his profession as a "Loserville" populated by "creepy musicians," in his words.

Circumcision Lite

By Susanna Crosby Perrin
Published on April 12, 2001

An undeniable physical reminder of a man's connection to Judaism, circumcision has been an important focus of the first days of a boy's life since before we received the Torah. However, for almost as long, there have been people who question the act of circumcision and those who have rallied for eliminating the practice.

Tragedy or Exploitation?

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on March 1, 2001

The photograph of the Palestinian father cradling his terrified son moments before the boy was killed in Gaza this fall was viewed live on television and reproduced on the front pages of newspapers around the globe. Like the photograph of the boy with hands raised standing in the Warsaw Ghetto, nobody who saw desperate Jamal Al-Durrah vainly trying to shield 12-year-old Mohammed can ever forget the terror in their eyes.

The Oldest Diary

By Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben
Published on October 5, 2000

There is something otherworldly about the experience of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. It is perhaps the preeminent spiritual-cultural paradox in all of Jewish life. When girls and boys focus so intensely on this personal lifecycle event, each possesses a transcendent, timeless and eternal quality.

Raising Boys

By Jane Ulman
Published on June 22, 2000

This past year, Toys R Us was excoriated for proposing and, in some instances, constructing separate "Boys World" and "Girls World" sections. But public outrage quickly forced the 707-store retailer to abandon this gender-based marketing concept, which it euphemistically referred to as "logical adjacencies."Twenty years ago, I would have vehemently condemned Toys R Us' discriminatory actions, perhaps even joining the ranks of the politically correct protesters. Girls, I would have argued, have as much right to play with a Tonka truck as boys with a Little Tikes vacuum cleaner. And not only a right, a need.Twenty years ago, I was single, childless and clueless.

To the Graduates

By Marlene Adler Marks
Published on June 15, 2000

I can't remember a word spoken by Ira Goldstein, the Plainview (NY) High School valedictorian, Class of 1965, but I'm sure his graduation address was brilliant. Ira, who apparently was in the Philosophy Club with me for three now-forgotten years, was the most brilliant boy in a class of brilliant boys. Girls were "smart" or "sweet" in those days; boys were "brilliant."
"The difficult he does quickly; the impossible takes a little

Memories of Summer Camp

By Gene Lichtenstein
Published on May 25, 2000

My first and only experience at summer camp was magical, or so it seemed to me. I entered a world I had never known before, and by summer's end had gained some recognition into who I was and who I was not. No mean feat at 13.

Marching to a Different Drum

By Michael Aushenker
Published on March 30, 2000

Building an audience has become something of a lifestyle for the group Guster. Formed at Tufts University, the band Guster consists of three Jewish boys -- Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner on guitars and vocals; Brian Rosenworcel on percussion -- who graduated from the Boston-area college in 1995. And the web-savvy musicians use the Internet to cultivate their loyal following.
On their third and latest CD, "Lost and Gone Forever" (Warner Bros./Sire), Guster deals with themes that are both personal and complex. The CD's title track, for example, refers to a friend's suicide.

A Better Strategy

By Marlene Adler Marks
Published on January 7, 1999

History never precisely repeats itself. I was cleaning up after dinner the other evening when I heard my daughter, Samantha, now nearly 17, on the phone; she was talking with a guy named Vinnie.
"Vinnie?" I said, as she hung up. "I think we should be focusing on Jewish guys now, don't you?"

"He's a friend, Mom," said Samantha.

And to my surprise, I let it go at that because I wasn't sure what else to do.

Dear Deborah

By Deborah Berger
Published on May 7, 1998

Dear Deborah.