50 Holocaust Survivors Celebrate Their Bar Mitzvahs

May 9, 2016 During the Holocaust, many Jewish children were deprived of a normal, happy childhood and celebrating their coming of age ceremonies — their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. this past Monday, 50 Holocaust survivors participated in this Jewish “coming of age” ceremony at the Western Wall. Just two days before Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Reznik and a dozen other men danced with the Torah scroll at the end of the day’s Torah readings.

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Beit Esther ‘Warm Houses’ Serve Israel’s 400,000 At-Risk Youth

December 16, 2015 An Argentinian Catholic priest and and Israeli psychoanalyst have joined forces to help at-risk youth. Early this month, Father Pedro Opeka toured Israeli psychoanalyst Henri Cohen Solal's 50 Beit Esther "warm houses," built to serve some of Israel's 400,000 at-risk youth.

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Women Light Candles at Kotel in Separate Ceremony

December 9, 2015 On Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lit both the shamash (helper) and the first-day candle in a public ceremony at the Western Wall’s men’s section. At the same time, about 100 women joined together in the women's section with 20 menorahs, including a communal candlestick.

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Ethiopian Aliyah Promises Final 9,000 Immigrants

November 16, 2015 In fulfillment of Bible prophecy, God continues to draw His people home to the Holy Land. The Jewish state's 125,000 Ethiopian Israelis will grow by another 9,146 if Ethiopia's Jewish-descendant community receives approval for aliyah from the Israeli Cabinet.

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3rd Annual Shabbat Project: 1 Million to “Keep it Together”

October 14, 2015 A history-in-the-making campaign called the Shabbat Project is seeking to build Jewish unity through keeping the Shabbat. This October 23-24, just two years after only 75,000 South African Jews accepted the first invitation to keep the Shabbat from the country's chief rabbi and rebbetzin, the "Shabbos Project" will unite 1 million Jews from around the globe.

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The Month of Cheshvan: Infusing the Mundane With Holiness

October 12, 2015 As the Hebrew month of Tishrei comes to an end, we begin the month of Cheshvan, the only Hebrew month without holy days. It is a month in which we turn our focus from appointed times with God to things that are more mundane.

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The Torah: The Heart and Rhythm of Jewish Life

September 9, 2015 With Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot almost upon us, we have only a few more readings left in this year’s Torah reading cycle. In just a few weeks, we will once again restart the annual cycle of Torah readings. The Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which takes place this year on the evening of October 4th, will mark the end of one annual cycle of weekly Torah readings, and the beginning of another.

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Second Temple Era Mikvah and Graffiti Found at Nursery School Site

August 17, 2015 While excavating for a kindergarten, builders in Jerusalem unearthed a cave with a manmade door. Inside the chamber was a 2,000-year-old mikvah (immersion bath) with a number of inscriptions on the walls.

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Birkat Kohanim: Kohanim Bless Tens of Thousands at the Western Wall

April 6, 2015 Tens of thousands of Jewish and Christian pilgrims gathered this morning at the Western Wall to be blessed in a beautiful yearly tradition on the third day of Passover as hundreds of descendants of Aaron pronounced the ancient Birkat Kohanim (Blessing of the Priests): "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."

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Kids Dig into Archaeology With Israeli Antiquities App

November 30, 2014 The Israeli Antiquities Authority has created a fun, free educational App called "Dig Quest: Israel," which makes the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century, available on the iPhone and iPad.

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