My father (alav hashalom) had an interesting quirk. He absolutely loved it when all his children were home for Shabbat. He would tell me: “Now that everyone is home, I finally feel at rest.” No matter what time of day we arrived, he would promptly go to...
Reflections on the month of Cheshvan: Usually, people will tell you that the month of Cheshvan is called Mar, bitter. Usually, people will tell you that we have no holidays this month either. However, if you flip Mar, it becomes Ram, which means “great”....
Succot is the most prayer- and mitzvah-laden holiday on the Jewish calendar. It is also full of the symbolism that makes Jewish life so rich. A Succah, a booth of sorts, must have at least three walls, but its most striking feature is the skhakh. Skhakh, or the roof...
Recently, the Jerusalem Post printed an article titled “Quality, Not Quantity, Aliya” (July 25, 2004). In it, the writer, Yosef Goell, a former political scientist, claimed that while “the last thing in the world we should want is to concentrate all...
Reflections on Hanukkah This year, Hanukkah in Israel seems a bit dispirited. No wonder. After three years of the blood-thirsty intifada, the emergence of a massive movement of global anti-Semitism, and the painful, on-going rifts amongst the Jewish people coming to a...
Osama is a tall, handsome man. He is charismatic and spiritual, inspiring millions of followers. They are prepared to die for the great mission of liberating Islam from the West and conquering the world in the name of the true religion. On September 11th, with the...
