SACRAMENTO (Press Release)–Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced today that 460 insurers have agreed in writing to a moratorium on future investments in 50 companies identified by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) to be doing business with the Iranian energy, nuclear and defense sectors. “This level of participation in the moratorium signals tremendous progress in

SAN DIEGO — In the weeks before Pesach I am asked more questions about one topic more than anything else: kitniot. Kitniot are vegetables and grains that Ashkenazic Jews avoid eating during Pesach even though they are not chametz. “Kitniot” are often erroneously translated as “legumes.” However, while most legumes are kitniot (i.e., beans and peas),

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–Rabbi Yosef Charif of Slonim was known for his sharpness and insight. Every year as Pesach approached, he received a multitude of queries concerning the intricate laws of the holiday.  One year, he received a distressed looking woman on Erev Pesach morning, asking for an audience with the Rabbi. The

 HAIFA, Israel (Press Release)–Sexual abuse in childhood increases the chances of high-risk pregnancy, according to a new study conducted by Prof. Rachel Lev-Wiesel, Head of the Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies at the University of Haifa, Lee Yampolsky and Dr. Tzachi Ben Zion, Deputy Director of Soroka Hospital. “Even when a woman willingly and happily commences