Students in the overwhelmingly black and Hispanic school district of Hempstead, New York, on Long Island, may be forgiven this fall if it takes them awhile to get used to their new superintendent — a Hasidic Jew who wears a dark coat and hat, sports a beard and has a yarmulke made of velvet. Shimon…
(JTA) You’ve seen the advertisements: A fit young woman pedals a stationary bicycle while an instructor on a video screen shouts encouragement. The company, Peloton, promises “fitness at your fingertips,” and both “live and on demand” spin classes and “world class instructors,” all from the comfort of your own home. What does a stationary bike…
This week marks the 63rd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregated schools, even if they had similar resources, were “inherently” unequal because separating children by race caused serious adverse effects. Shockingly, more than six decades later, New York City has the most racially divided schools in…
Through collaboration with the Teaneck Creek Conservancy and Amir Yechieli, founder of Israel-based “Yevul Mayim,” the Jack Flamholz Water Sustainability Project has successfully introduced water conservation curriculum and rainwater harvesting to Hawthorne Elementary School in Teaneck. This is the first project of its kind in New Jersey and will allow students to explore ideas on…
This article was first published in The Forward on May 21, 1999. The terrain reminded me of the Negev, especially as I gazed out over it from high above the desert floor: coarse sand, prickly shrubs, sandstone cliffs. A rope was the only thing that protected me from injury or death. I was leading a…
In a recent analysis of U.S. religious groups, the Pew Research Center reported that the most educated American Jews are also the least religious. In considering these findings, it’s tempting to think that secular education leads to assimilation among American Jews (I want to be clear that Pew, a leading source of data on contemporary…
Dear friends posting social media screeds against Trump, This is my challenge to channel your anger, energy and intelligence into constructive actions that will actually make a difference. I understand that the election of Donald Trump represents a nightmare, and we’re trying to wake up from it. But angry posts, signs, and marches are the…
Paul Traynor’s documentary “New Trier: The Tip of the Spear” explains in deep detail all the elements of a seemingly local controversy that flared up last February at New Trier High School, a nationally distinguished public school in suburban Chicago’s heavily Jewish North Shore. If the film is to be believed, the angry dispute that…
מע וועט בײַם ייִוואָ אויך לערנען קורסן פֿון שעפֿעריש שרײַבן און וועגן די לידער פֿון דוד האָפֿשטיין.
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