What Happened in SHUM
While most people know about the horrors of the Crusades, many do not realize that there were, in fact, many Crusades over a period of four hundred years, and that most of these crusades…
Yom Ha’atzma’ut – Israel’s Independence Day
On the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, in the year 5708, corresponding to May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born. On that day, the British Mandate was terminated and David…
Penny Lane
While the well-known adage requests, “A penny for your thoughts,” perhaps those coins should be sought, instead, in between the cushions of sofas and car seats, in washing machines, and…
A Singer whose Voice was a Pen
On November 21, 1902, a baby was born in Leoncin, Poland, who would succeed, through his pen, to help posterity understand the Jewish “Shtetl” experience in Eastern Europe. Isaac Hersh…
The Right and Wrong Ways of Declaring Independence
On July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence, officially seceding from the British Crown. This year, July 4th falls during the week of parashat…
Read the Declaration of Independence
The document prepared by the Founding Fathers is one of the greatest statements of purpose ever written by human beings. Read it, or watch the re-enactment of its reading in Philadelphia.
The Erev Shabbat Israeli Declaration of Independence
Israeli independence is celebrated on the Hebrew date of the 5th of Iyar, rather than on the corresponding secular date of May 14th. In order to avoid any potential desecration of the…
Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day
On the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, in the year 5708, corresponding to May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born. On that day, the British Mandate was terminated and David…
Is there an Abracadabra for Repentance?
Paragraphs two and three of the first chapter of Maimonides' “Laws of Teshuva” invoke the Biblical case of the scapegoat, which, in ancient times, helped effect atonement for the Jewish…
Yom Ha’atzma’ut – Israel’s Independence Day
On the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, in the year 5708, corresponding to May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born. On that day, the British Mandate was terminated and David…