Rock Of Ages
“Rock of Ages let our song / Praise thy saving power / Thou amidst the raging foes / Wast our sheltering tower....” This is the first verse of Maoz Tzur as translated, loosely from the…
Forget Custer
Hungarian immigrant and apprentice cigar maker, Sigmund Shlesinger (1848-1928) probably never expected to become a frontiersman. After he ended up in Kansas and had several business…
Cleaning The Water
This year, National Geography Awareness Week (this week) has chosen the theme of “freshwater.” The Torah is laden with prohibitions against harming the environment. Soldiers may not cut…
For Her Protection
Historically, women (and children) have been the hardest hit victims of war. Beyond the killing, looting and pillaging that, until modern times (and some would argue that things are not…
The Burial at Betar
In war, a common means of humiliating the enemy is to refuse them burial of their dead (which is also forbidden by the Geneva Convention). Certainly, demoralization was the goal of the…
Purim’s Villainess
Anyone familiar with the basic Purim story knows that the primary enemy of the Jewish people was Haman. What most people do not realize is that there are several other "lesser" villains…
Spin the Dreidel
I have a little dreidel I made it out of clay and when it’s dry and ready With dreidel I shall play! The Dreidel is a four sided top, with a single Hebrew letter on each of its sides.…
Military Trappings
On October 22, 1973, the tenuous ceasefire between the Israelis and the Egyptians attempting to end the Yom Kippur War, was broken. As a result, the Israel paratroopers captured the road…
Vayeitzei 5781-2020
“The Role of Mother Rachel in Jewish History” (updated and revised from Vayeitzei 2000-5761) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, we encounter Jacob…
Memorial to a Brave Soldier
David Rosenkrantz is one of the many unsung heroes whose lives, cut short by the horrors of war, are honored on Memorial Day. Born in 1916, Staff Sergeant Rosenkrantz joined the army in…