Rabbi Jay S. Lapidus

Zichron Avraham Yehudah Educational Services

In Memory of our beloved son, Avraham Yehudah ("Avi") Lapidus, 1990-2006.

Experienced, professional, rabbinic Bar/Bat Mitzvah instruction, adult education, lectures, serving the affiliated and non-affiliated of Hartford County and northeastern New Haven County. I am a rabbi with extensive congregational, educational and counseling experience. Please feel free to email me.

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Halachic Organ Donation Society

Learn about organ donation from a halakhic perspective. Save lives!

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Jewish Resources in Central Connecticut

Greater Hartford has an active and stable Jewish community with Jewish day schools, a glatt kosher butcher at Waldbaum's, kosher bakeries at two supermarkets, and a JCC.

Jewish Day and High Schools:

• The Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy, Bloomfield (Greater Hartford). Modern Orthodox.
• Hebrew High School of New England, 1244 N. Main St., W. Hartford, (860) 231-0317, Rabbi Daniel Loew, principal.
• Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford, (860) 571-0600.
• The Ezra Academy, Woodbridge (New Haven), a Solomon Schechter school.
• New Haven Hebrew Day School, Orange, CT. Affiliated with Chabad.

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Local Federations and Jewish Community Centers

The Greater Hartford Jewish Community Center, which houses The Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and other agencies.
The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, located at The JCC of Greater New Haven.

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Kosher eateries, butchers, bakeries, markets and caterers with respected supervision in the Greater Hartford area and UConn, Storrs

Kashrut Commission of Greater Hartford - (860) 236-1241, Rabbi Yitzchok Adler, Rav Hamachshir and administrator.

Mikvah: West Hartford (best); community supported serving all branches of Judaism.
Judaica stores are located in West Hartford (Crossroads Plaza, Bishop's Corner) and Westville.

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Articles By or About Yours Truly

• "Under God" and the Pledge, published NY Times letter.
• The Diallo Verdict. The Hartford Courant recognized this letter as one of the "60 best" letters of the year.
• Rebuttal of a Jewish Ledger editorial re driver's licenses and voting, Nov. 16, 2007.
• CT Jewish Ledger's Cheap Shot at Democrats, July 1, 2005.
• Democrats Should Stand Against Bankruptcy Bill, published in The Hartford Courant, Nov. 15, 2002.

• Two letters supporting Israel's Gaza operations, May 2004
• "Nonviolent Message Ignored": Rev. King for Israel, not Homicide Bombers, published 1/31/03, Courant (scroll down to the 3rd letter).
  
• Not "occupied territories" but "DISPUTED territories, an unpublished response to PLO propagandist Tarazi's op-ed in The Washington Post, 6/21/02, reprinted in The Hartford Courant.
• Norway's Morally Bankrupt Silence: My correspondence with the Norwegian Embassy about the anti-Israel boycott.
• Response to yet another, foolish Hartford Courant preachment on Israel, May 6, 2002.
• Terrorists Deserve the Blame (4/20/02).
• Various letters to the Editor re Israel, the 2000 presidential election.

• Dr. Kevorkian Versus Jewish Ethics
• The October Dilemma: You can't solve the "December Dilemma" until you deal with the "October Dilemma."
• "I Saw My Rabbi at a Treyf Restaurant" - My reply to "Ask Wendy" of the Forward.
• What We Can Learn From the "Yale Four": Preserving Our Own Rights
• Must the President be a Moral Leader?: What we can learn from King David, Clinton and Reagan about moral leadership.
• The Wicked Son
  
• Eulogy for Yitzhak Rabin: My remarks at a memorial service on Long Island.
• Forgetting Yizkor: What happened to the "Yizkor Jews"?
• In Memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: January 1998
• Religious Attitudes of Jewish Teens: A Comparison with Parents
• Published letter to the Jewish Press, Aug. 2002, and the JP's response. They always have to get the last word!
• Silent Terror: Slavery in Mauritania, Sudan and elsewhere. Record-Journal.

The following Record-Journal articles are (temporarily?) not available:

• Distortions Against Israel: A reply to E. Fitch's column attacking Israel on her 50th anniversary, (Meriden) Record-Journal, May 1998.
• Mr. Clinton: Please Step Aside, and the House Republican leadership should all resign as well, (Meriden) Record-Journal, Sept. 1998.

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Jewish and Israeli
News and Opinion

Ha'aretz in English
The Jerusalem Post
Guysen Israel News
Connecticut Jewish Ledger
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Arutz 7 - Israel National News
The (New York) Jewish Week
Israel Government Press Office
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Embassy of Israel, Washington, DC.
Israel Broadcasting Authority: Israel Radio
The Forward, an independent Jewish weekly
The Jewish Post of NY & Jewish Web News

• The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Persian,Turkish, Urdu-Pashtu media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.
• MidEast Truth, a team of dedicated volunteers, from different nationalities--Jewish, Muslim and Christian, who are trying to spread the truth about the Middle East conflict.
• Jewish Internet Association, a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing truthful, positive information to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity on the Internet.
• Baltimore Jewish Times which has more links to Jewish sites under 'Cyberspot.'
• Moment Magazine
• Dr. Daniel Gordis, author of provocative and pentrating books and dispatches from Israel.
• The International Coalition for Israeli MIAs
• American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the only American organization whose sole mission is to lobby Congress about legislation that strengthens the relationship between the United States and Israel.
• Jewish Agency for Israel
• Daniel Pipes: archives of the writings of an expert on the Israel-Arab conflict and international terrorism. He was writing about Bin Laden (yemach sh'mo) long before 9/11.

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JEWISH EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

• Sacred texts online, including Bible, Talmud, Midrash and more.
• Words Can Heal, campaign against lashon hara, gossip, slander, tale-bearing, hurtful speech.
• CHAI Lifeline
• CLAL - -The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
• Edah: "The Courage to Modern and Orthodox"
• Gates to Jewish Heritage, a comprehensive Jewish website by Rabbi David E. Lipman.
• Prof. Eliezer Segal has a fine Jewish site.
• Judaism 101 has a fine introduction to Judaism site.
• Jewish Mourner's Handbook by Rabbi Ron H. Isaacs and Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky.
• Jewish Law: Examining Halacha, Jewish Issues and Secular Law.
• Ellie's Torah Trope Tutor: Torah, Haftarah, and Megillot cantillation.
• Prof. Marc Brettler's home page, an excellent resource for Jewish Bible studies. Also, info about Jewish Boston.
• jadio.org 24/7 Jewish streaming audio site providing lectures and discussions by leading scholars.

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OUTREACH

• Conversion to Judaism Home Page: Dr. Larry Epstein's guide to conversion.
• Outreach Judaism: Rabbi Tovia Singer exposes the so-called "Jews for Jesus" and "Messianic Judaism."
• RussianAncestors.com is the primary Internet source connecting researchers of Russian Jewish ancestors worldwide.
• HaReshima, "The Jewish Internet Portal."
• Shamash Home Page: Divrei Torah, kosher data-base, and other resources.
• More Jewish search lists.
• Maven (A-Z List of Jewish and Israel Related Resources): Comprehensive links to most Jewish sites.

• The Jewish Communication Network: More Jewish internet resources.
• The Jews of Cuba.
• The Alban Institute serves North American congregations and clergy of all religions. I highly recommend that all pulpit rabbis and congregations belong to this organization, engage their consultants, and refer to their publications.

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CIVIL RIGHTS

• The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith combats anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.
• The Nizkor Project, dedicated to the nearly twelve million victims ruthlessly destroyed by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime.
• Simon Wiesenthal Center rebuts antisemitic propaganda from "revisionists," the NOI, etc.
• The Southern Poverty Law Center fights the KKK and other racists.

• The American Anti-Slavery Group, Inc.

• International Jewish Prisoner Services tends to the religious needs of Jewish correctional inmates.
• SPLC Hate Watch, a web based not for profit that monitors the evolving problem of online bigotry.

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OTHER SITES

• Rivkah Lapidus, artist, psychotherapist, sister

• Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies
• Network For Good supporting terrorism and disaster victims.
• PC Cleaning Guide. Do your own purging of malware, adware, spyware, trojans, viruses, et al. on your Windows O/S. PC Cleaning Guide tells you how, with links to freeware.
• Reviews of DSL internet providers.

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• Melanoma Education Fund, in memory of David N. Fine, Peabody, MA, who died of melanoma at age 26.
• Ari Grashin Memorial

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