Fashion maven gives insider’s view at Main Event

by Debra Rubin

May 21, 2012

About 140 women who already share a commitment to community got to share a beyond-the-runway peek at the dynamic world of high fashion. Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week, provided that insider’s perspective at the annual Main Event program of the Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County. Read More

Muslim student reads essay at Yom Hashoa event

by Debra Rubin

May 7, 2012

As a Muslim Monroe High School sophomore, Sara Mohamed is often disturbed by the portrayal of Muslims in the media as terrorists or hostile to other religions and beliefs. So when she began learning about the Holocaust in school, she related to those victimized by the Nazis for their religion or beliefs. Read More

Author explores eternal fascination with heaven

by Debra Rubin

May 7, 2012

As religion editor for Newsweek magazine, Lisa Miller was asked to write about heaven and the almost universal belief in the afterlife. Read More

‘Self-paced’ day school ends first year on high note

by Debra Rubin

May 7, 2012

On a recent afternoon at the Pre-Collegiate Learning Center of New Jersey, students sat on couches and around tables in the break room engaged in a variety of studies. One young woman sat by herself studying Japanese. Launched last year, the PCLC Jewish day school uses “self-paced,” individualized learning, a system that allows for fewer teachers and an annual tuition of $5,000, considerably less than that of other Jewish day schools. Read More

Rutgers remembers proud alum Alvin Rockoff

Before Israel lecture, tributes to a ‘mentor, friend, and supporter’

by Debra Rubin

May 7, 2012

Alvin Rockoff was remembered April 22 as a man devoted to his family, the Jewish community, and all things Rutgers. Read More

Tanzman Fellows on a mission

by Jennifer Bullock, Debra Fisher, and Laura Gordon

May 2, 2012

In February, 15 Tanzman Fellows left Middlesex and traveled to Israel on a trip marked by vast moments of humor, surprise, and compassion. We met social entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers, creators, and educators, who are investing their ideas and energy to revitalize the established Jewish community. We came home as a collective, with a renewed drive to invest in the vibrancy of our local Jewish community. Read More

Community Shoa event honors victims, survivors

by Debra Rubin

April 23, 2012

Close to 400 people gathered in East Brunswick to remember victims of the Holocaust and to honor the strength and determination of the survivors. The annual Yom Hashoa commemoration was sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County and The Holocaust Through our Eyes: the Second and Third Generations Speak. Read More

Author describes search for lost kin

by Debra Rubin

April 23, 2012

As a child, Daniel Mendelsohn always wondered why his beloved grandfather carried two wallets. There was the wallet holding credit cards and cash in his pants pocket, and the beautiful ostrich-skin wallet carefully placed each day in his shirt pocket. Read More

Missions to Cuba discover ‘thriving’ Jewish community

by Debra Rubin

April 23, 2012

In a country where decades of communism and an American embargo have left a seeming time warp of decaying buildings and economic stagnation, Cuba’s Jewish community is showing definite signs of revitalization. That was the impression of participants in two local missions who recently returned with stories of a country where Jews, like much of the rest of the population, are poor but managing to thrive — with some help. Read More