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Israel never leaves its fighters behind, but when there are no signs that a service member is alive or dead, what is the halachah? For the past four summers, Rabbi Dr. Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff stays in Kew Gardens Hills for a month with his wife Malka, speaking around the metropolitan area, meeting his former students, and fundraising for Shvut Ami, the kiruv organization in Israel serving Russian-speaking Jews.

On his visit to Congregation Machane Chodosh last week, venture fund manager Daniel Frankenstein noticed the memorial plaques on the synagogue’s wall, with names such as Walter, Siegfried, and Irmgard. “These are German names; my grandfather was Hans and my grandmother was Hildegard. We are Yekkes,” he said. He was hosted by one of a handful of its older German-born members, longtime shul president Herbert Jaffe.

The Israeli capital city appears in the center of the historic Jewish homeland, but it is also the frontline of Jewish restoration efforts that require great personal and financial sacrifice, security risk, political will, and faith. “The former mufti of Jerusalem looked me in the eyes, man to man, and said that the Temple never existed,” said Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth at the American Friends of Ateret Cohanim / Jerusalem Chai annual dinner in Midtown Manhattan last Thursday.

When warm milk is mistakenly poured from a dairy pot into a fleishig one, are the milk and fleishig pot then considered treif?

The entire political, legal, and law enforcement establishment of Queens stood in mourning on Tuesday to give their final farewell to District Attorney Richard Brown as his hearse drove past the Queens County Courthouse, Borough Hall, and down Queens Boulevard to the Reform Temple of Forest Hills, where hundreds of mourners honored the borough’s longest serving prosecutor.

Pesach in New York is a unique American experience. It is a time when Jewish families can be seen throughout the city, sampling its numerous cultural and natural attractions. Walk through Central Park during Chol HaMoed and it seems that every other person is a frum Jew, just remember to pack some lunch as most kosher eateries will be closed for the duration of the holiday. Closer to home, there are plenty of places to explore. In no particular order, I give you a brief guide to our hometown borough: