When I was about 11 years old, my brother and I encountered a trio of 17-18 year olds one night on our way home from school who grabbed our kippot from our heads and pushed us around. The words they yelled at me I had read, but I had never heard directed at me. And the feeling of helplessnes…
I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. We are truly blessed to be able to celebrate. One important precept of our Jewish tradition is to be thankful and to express that gratitude, whether it is to the Almighty or to our friends and neighbors. We use the term 'ha…
Lillian’s Café, organized and run through Rockland Jewish Family Service, is a unique program designed to employ individuals on the Autism Spectrum. It provides job training and real work experience to enhance the strengths and potential of each employee - who hold themselves to the highe…
Dustin Hausner is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Rockland, as well as a member of our Community Relations Committee. We share Dustin's thoughts in the aftermath of this week’s election. On Tuesday, many of us exercised our civic duty for our country…
This is the advice of the great sage Hillel the Elder, who lived more than 2000 years ago. Hillel was asked by a scoffer to teach him the entire Torah while he stood on one foot. Instead of rebuking his mockery, Hillel told him “That which is hateful to you, don’t do to others. That is t…
