Splitting the Atom
When asked to name a theoretical physicist, the first name to come to many young Americans would be “Sheldon Cooper,” the fictional lead character on the long-running hit show, “Big Bang…
The Jews Of Jamaica
As in many countries of the New World, the Jewish history of Jamaica begins with conversos, the secret Jews who fled Spain. They came to the New World seeking not only new opportunities,…
Entry Point
Although immigrants from around the world came through Ellis Island, the immigration station in the harbor of New York* had a distinctive impact specifically on Jews and on…
The Four Species
The waving of the four species is one of the most beautiful and symbolic mitzvot of the year.Indeed, there is a special commandment (Leviticus 23:40) that one make a specific effort to…
A Trap of Wealth
If I were a rich man...The most important men in town will come to fawn on me...When you’re rich they think you really know... The now classic words from the Broadway show Fiddler on the…
Muscular Judaism
As the Zionist Movement developed, one of its secondary goals was to transform Jewish life by freeing it from what was considered a ghetto mentality, a societal mind-set of being weak and…
Rebuke for Good
It is “human nature” to question the ups and downs of life. Of course, people mostly question the downs of life. The Jewish view of the world, however, is that nothing happens by chance.…
Chanukah and Divine Order
Chanukah always overlaps with at least one Shabbat (if not two), and since Chanukah begins on the 25th of Kislev and lasts for eight days, the holiday always coincides with the…
The Four Species
The waving of the four species is one of the most beautiful and symbolic mitzvot of the year. Indeed, there is a special commandment (Leviticus 23:40) that one make a specific effort to…