Shavuot 5772

Five steps to studying and learning from the Torah

by Dasee Berkowitz

May 23, 2012

Observing my kids playing, I notice how the same toy, no matter how many times they play with it, can reveal the most remarkable things. If we studied the Torah the way a child plays with a toy — repeatedly and open to the possibility of discovering something remarkable — then perhaps we would discover something remarkable. Read More

Back to the ‘Garden’

Author opens window on ’30s Berlin

by Ron Kaplan

May 16, 2012

In his 2011 best-seller, In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson offered a perspective on what it was like for outsiders from the United States to be on the “inside” as Adolph Hitler was coming to power in the mid 1930s. An enthusiastic crowd of more than 450 came to hear his story of research and publication in a May 10 appearance at Green Brook Country Club in North Caldwell. Read More

Longing for Longie

Film will take a look at an ‘underrated’ mobster

by Ron Kaplan

May 9, 2012

Abner “Longie” Zwillman has been gone for more than 50 years, but the idea of a Jewish gangster with a love for his people and the fledgling State of Israel still manages to hold interest and evoke some grudging credit. Read More

Jews for jazz

Local players, writers, and history buffs fete a musical ‘love affair’

by Robert Wiener

May 2, 2012

The poet and author David Lehmann has called jazz a cocktail of “Jewish gin and black vermouth.” From jazz’s earliest days, Jewish musicians, impresarios, and songwriters both learned much from and contributed greatly to an art form created by African-Americans. That “on-again, off-again love affair” (again, Lehmann’s phrase), which continues to this day, will be well represented locally in a forthcoming lecture and concert and is embodied in a new biography of jazz impresario Norman Granz and in the memories of local musicians and jazz fans. Read More

Baseball diplomacy

A bar mitzva project of international proportions

by Ron Kaplan

April 25, 2012

When Mica Jarmel-Schneider was looking for a community service project for his bar mitzva four years ago, he decided to think outside the box — in this case, the batter’s box. Mica wanted to combine his favorite sport with his love for his paternal grandfather, Herb Schneider. How to do that? By donating baseball equipment to the young people of the country that provided refuge for his grandfather and his family during the Holocaust: Cuba. Read More

‘Coming together in harmony’ at UJA benefit concert

by NJJN Staff

April 18, 2012

AUDIENCE MEMBERS at the 15th annual UJA Benefit Concert this Sunday in Newark will not only get to hear world-renowned Grammy-winning Israeli pianist Yefim Bronfman perform with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, they will also be treated to a singular musical event. Read More

Survival, resilience, and love

A survivor’s daughter reflects on family longings and rebirth

by Irit Felsen

April 18, 2012

For over 20 years, the rhythm of my life in New Jersey has been marked by visits to Israel to be with family for the holidays, especially Passover. Reading in the Haggada that in every generation there are those who try to annihilate us and celebrating our delivery from slavery to freedom is poignantly personal for our family, the family of two Holocaust survivor parents. The persecution of our forefathers is intertwined with the murder of my parents’ immediate families and with their own persecution and slavery under the Nazis. Read More

Another missing glass of wine

by Gerald J. Resnick

April 11, 2012

There is a tradition during Passover to keep a full glass of wine on the seder table for the prophet Elijah, who is said to be responsible for summoning the arrival of the Jewish Messiah, and who visits every seder during the holiday. During the ceremony, the door to the household is opened to allow the prophet to enter and visit the seder and its participants. This year, however, there was another wine glass missing a participant at the table. My father died a month ago and though we may have yearned for him to walk through the door and take his place at the table, only his wine remained. Read More

At 90, Sarajevo survivor still spreading the word

by Elaine Durbach

April 11, 2012

Jasha Levi, 90, gave up journalism a long time ago, but the Hightstown resident is making up for lost time, reaching audiences in print and in person. In his talks and books and articles, the nonagenarian discusses Jewish survival during World War II, drawing off research and his own experience as a Holocaust survivor from Sarajevo. Read More