Growing up, my Jewish identity stemmed from my mother’s side of the family. As Reform/secular Jews, we celebrated our religion during Hanukkah, mourned during funerals and heard family history: travels and narrow escapes from Minsk, Russia, to Ellis...
By Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach
• Published August 24, 2016
A brief glance in the mirror at the gym provides a fairly accurate picture of what is happening to our bodies as we exercise. We train our biceps hard, and they grow in response to the stimulus placed upon them. Be it overload, high volume, or hypertrophy...
As I write this, a week has passed since the last Maccabi athletes returned to their homes. I thought the Maccabi experience might feel less intense after a few good nights of sleep, but it doesn’t. I still feel grateful and emotional and proud —...
Raising the minimum wage In the daily work of Jewish social service agencies, we serve many people who struggle with poverty, hunger and lack of opportunity. The policy statement on increasing the minimum wage that was adopted by the Jewish Community...
By Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach
• Published August 17, 2016
Just like we have seen in the fashion industry, technological advances, and social media, the king of all upper-body exercises has grown up and evolved over time. No longer must we rely upon that old mental image of the “drop and give me 20” push-up....
Gilead Sher and Robert Mnookin
• Published August 11, 2016
Israeli left- and right-wing activists demonstrating in Tel Aviv, April 21, 2011. (Roni Schutzer/Flash90)(JTA) — “If there is something that deprives me of sleep it is the fissures in Israeli society,” former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon declared,...
Armed security at synagoguesOver the past few years Jews and Jewish institutions around the world have been the target of violence as manifested by anti-Semitic terrorist and criminal activity.Shootings and terrorist bombs have resulted in a plethora...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published August 10, 2016
As the Summer Olympics are underway in Rio de Janeiro, a flood of memories of Jewish and Israeli ties to the quadrennial international sports competition come to mind.For Jewish fans of the Olympic Games, a superb way to brush up on both Jewish and Israeli...
Today’s topic (discuss amongst yourselves) is: Were the Cardinals super-duper-hyper-overconservative at the trade deadline? Is that a weighted question or what? Can you guess my conclusion?Let’s start with one overriding presumption in the analysis:...
Anastasia Somoza was on television last week, delivering the best speech you probably didn’t see at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. She spoke in a strong, clear and only slightly nervous voice with conviction, heart and authenticity.It...
Pope Francis, left, greeting the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, during a papal visit to the city’s synagogue, Jan. 17, 2016. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)(JTA) — This week, Pope Francis will be making a pilgrimage to Poland, visiting Auschwitz...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published July 27, 2016
To describe Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “mercurial” is akin to describing the weather in Antarctica as “chilly.” At the moment, Erdogan is in the midst of an extremely violent purge of every segment of civil society: judges, journalists,...
