Lori Silberman Brauner

A Caribbean synagogue with a storied Jewish past continues to make history as it welcomes its first female rabbi.

Julia Margolis, whose mother, Elena Rubinstein, became Israel’s first Russian-speaking female rabbi in 2002, moved to the United States Virgin Islands in February to lead the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, which is affiliated with the Reform movement.

As just about every expert agrees, breast milk beats formula on every score, from the health of the baby to out-of-pocket costs. But that hasn’t stopped formula makers from pushing their products, cutting deeply into breastfeeding rates around the world.
Their current practices include using Covid-19 as a scare tactic: “Hey Mama, Now’s the Right Time to Start Giving Them Immunity Boosting Nutrition,” one of the best-known formula makers, Swiss-based Nestlé, told potentially fearful mothers in...

From a young age, Zahra Mirzaei, 32, decided to become a midwife after she encountered a kind doctor who encouraged her to pursue studies in the field. Observing the role that midwives played in her country — Afghanistan — while challenged by extremely limited educational opportunities for women and girls, Mirzaei said: “It spoke to the feminist in me. A woman for women!”
Now a midwifery and nursing team leader in Kabul for Jhpiego, an international nonprofit health organization affiliated wi...

Over the last several years, Morocco has become a hot spot for American as well as Jewish tourists drawn to its prominent cities along the coast and inland such as Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh and Essaouira.

But repeat travelers to the country and those interested in the fuller story of the history of Moroccan Jewry would do well to visit some other gems in the north and south, from Tangier and its Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, to Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains to southern towns such...

Seven months ago, I spent 10 days in Morocco, where I experienced the pleasures (and bumps) of riding a camel in the Sahara Desert, listening to Kiddush at a Fez synagogue, and dicing vegetables at a Marrakesh cooking school. Several months prior, I was embarking on the inaugural flight of TAP Air Portugal from Lisbon to Tel Aviv. And half a year before that, I was traveling through Portugal, learning about the remnants — and emergence — of a centuries-old Jewish community devastated by the I...

With the launching of TAP Air Portugal’s first flight to Israel last month, tourists planning to visit the Jewish state from New Jersey have a new European destination they can explore en route.
With daily flights now leaving from Lisbon to Tel Aviv and back, travelers from New Jersey can merely book a flight through Newark Liberty or John F. Kennedy airport, spend up to five days in Portugal on TAP’s free stopover program, and take a 2:20 p.m. flight from Lisbon that arrives in Tel Aviv just...

An enchanting land of castles, churches, and intricate blue Azulejo tiles, Portugal is perhaps most famous for its explorers’ legacy.
The country, on the western side of the Iberian Peninsula, also is a nation with a deeply rooted Catholic religious heritage, and, increasingly, a growing — and re-emerging — Jewish community, centuries after the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions wreaked havoc on the Jews of Iberia and beyond. With roots dating as far back as the end of the Roman empire, Port...

The signs are subtle, but they are definitely there: Hebrew words incorporated into Papiamentu, the hybrid language spoken by the islanders; mezuzot attached to doorposts; commercial signs for “Levy Maduro,” the name of a prominent Sephardic Caribbean family, and for Curaçao Liqueur, a kosher spirits company.
Jewish life on the southern Caribbean island of Curaçao, an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, dates back to the 17th century, with the arrival of the first group ...

Israel, one of the world’s most kid-friendly countries, offers plenty for families to do, from adventures in birdwatching and cave spelunking to racing down water park slides and lazy days at the beach. Children are highly valued in Israeli culture, and locals will dote on little ones, even welcoming children into upscale restaurants and weddings (and sometimes lecturing parents on best childcare practices!).
Travelling with children in any region in Israel is as easy as ABC. Here are our top...

ne does not have to look far and wide to find a rich Jewish legacy in Morocco. From Casablanca and Essaouira on the Atlantic coastline to inland Fez and Marrakesh, surrounded by mountains, the Jewish presence in the mostly Muslim country dates back centuries.

Despite the fact many community members have emigrated elsewhere, their synagogues and cemeteries have not only been carefully preserved, they have received support, financial and otherwise, from the highest echelons of government, inclu...