Forward.com

Hanging On the Telephone: Support Group Connects WomenRuth Mastron had been in Israel only a few days last March when reports of the terrorist attack on Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav yeshiva hit the news. The 53-year-old, who just minutes earlier was reveling in her very first trip to the Holy Land, was horrified. But she also realized that it’s because of tragedies like these that her newest venture is so crucial.…Read more

An Unlikely Love StoryIt doesn’t seem like Mutsuyo the Japanese dancer and Norman the Jewish businessman have much in common at the start of Kyoko Yokoma’s documentary, “Dancing With Lives.” Yet there they are onscreen, getting married. In a few minutes time, their stories unfold and all becomes clear. Mutsuyo lost her entire family in 1995 in a devastating earthquake in Kobe that killed thousands. Norman is the youngest child of Holocaust survivors; their eldest son died during World War II. Both are victims of tragedies that simultaneously befell and spared them. The emotional documentary, which follows Mutsuyo to Japan and back, and checks in with the downtown-dwelling Manhattan couple in the weeks following September 11, 2001, will be screened at the New York International Independent Film Festival on March 5.…Read more

Antique Scrolls: Pieces of History Up for SaleWhen a Torah scroll is so faded or damaged that it can no longer be used, Jewish law states that, like the dearly departed, it is to be buried. But Spiritual Artifacts, a California-based company, hopes to bring new life to presumed-dead Torahs by putting them on display for all to see and offering them up for sale.…Read more

Hairy Situation: A Laser Technician for Observant Women‘Feel my leg,” said Shulamis Soffer, 27, offering up a silky, hair-free gam for inspection. The Orthodox Brooklyn native’s legs are just-got-a-wax smooth, and, thanks to the magic of lasers, they always will be. A licensed laser hair removal specialist, Soffer wants to help as many people as possible experience the same sort of razor-free freedom she now enjoys.…Read more

A (Jewish) Christmas TraditionJudaism is a religion that thrives on rituals. We light candles before the Sabbath, recite special prayers before drinking wine and, most inexplicably, eat Chinese food on Christmas. In her forthcoming book “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” (to be published by Twelve in March 2008), New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee seeks out the origin of the chosen people’s chow mein mania. In her quest, she uncovers the truth about Washington, D.C.’s Great Kosher Duck Scandal of 1989, travels to China to meet with the lost Chinese Jews of Kaifeng and learns that Confucius might not have anything at all to say about the matter. Leah Hochbaum Rosner spoke with the author to find out why Jews who don’t light Sabbath candles and who omit the pre-wine blessings still make time for Chinese food — on Jesus’ birthday and throughout the year.…Read more