The mid rash argues that a person who chooses not to go to a bet din is denying G-d’s role in the world, and ultimately His Torah, that instructs you to settle monetary matters “in-house.” more

A former chief rabbi accused and arrested for possible bribery and embezzlement, a rabbinic leader found guilty of inappropriate behavior with his students, and yet another rabbi accused of bribing senior police officers. Even if one has to take what one reads in the press with a grain of salt, something is clearly amiss. Where have we gone wrong? How can we avoid these horrific pitfalls in the future? more

To say that this Kosher Bookworm loves books would be an understatement, and to read and evaluate a book on the history of Jewish book publishing is indeed a labor of love. So it is with this week’s selection, “People of the Book: Five Hundred Years of the Hebrew Book from The Beginning Of Printing Until The 20th Century” [Feldheim, 2014]. more

I’ve always wanted to compare apples to apples, and figured, since the recipe I’m sharing with you this week is an apple cake, what better time than now? China is the largest producer of apples, producing almost half of the world’s apples. more

Shiva has just ended for the Stark family and the media frenzy has moved on to new targets. We have not. The horrific abduction and murder of Menachem Stark continues to shock our entire community to its core, and rightfully so. more

A civil society in which life is sacrosanct frowns upon the act of murder. It is a heinous crime to rob another person of life itself. In America, states have different punishments in place for murderers, ranging from prison sentences to a ticket to death row. And yet, not all acts that bring about death are considered “murder.” more

It was silence of such magnitude and such power, I was sure that even the angels in heaven were standing still. I remember it like it was yesterday. more

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon passed away Saturday at the age of 85. He never recovered from the devastating stroke he suffered eight years ago, on Jan. 4, 2006. Some of the obituaries will vilify him, others praise him, and on both counts they are wrong. Ariel Sharon was an enigma wrapped in a paradox. more

About 2-1/2 years ago, I was helping my dear friend Ellen Finkelstein set up for her a shalosh seudos in honor of her son’s bar mitzvah. more

In 2006, the Goodman family’s son Yosef was killed in a tragic training accident when his parachute failed to open properly. Incredibly, having become entangled with his officer’s chute, Yosef z”l bravely chose to cut himself loose rather than cost his officer’s life. A few days later, sitting in the Goodman home, I learned just how special Yosef Goodman really was. more