The narrative of the Four Sons is one of the highlights of the Maggid (Telling) section of the Haggadah. Contemporary versions of this work formulate the first two questions in this … more

One of the bigger challenges we face on Pesach evening is keeping everyone around the table engaged throughout the Seder. Whether we read the Haggadah straight (boring to some), have many Torah … more

The details of this story have been changed to protect the identity of the commander involved. J enin during the first intifada was a nasty place, especially for a month of reserve duty, but we … more

Among Sephardic Jews of my grandmother’s generation, there was a popular, if unproven, belief that Gen. Francisco Franco, the military dictator who ruled Spain from 1939 until his death in … more

Uh-oh, the liberals are having a conniption. They’ve decided that President Trump ousted General McMaster and brought in Ambassador John Bolton because he is assembling a war cabinet. After … more

When it comes to Passover desserts, there is no shortage of recipes and ideas. Ever since balaboostas began to create desserts other than sponge cake, macaroons, and stewed prunes, the world of … more

Pesach begins next Friday night, and with it comes the longest mitzvah we can fulfill, the telling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt. In Maimonides’ count it is positive mitzvah 157. In … more

This is Shabbat Hagadol, the Great Shabbat, an appellation that urges us to focus on the meaning of geulah (redemption), since it is juxtaposed to Pesach, the preeminent Festival of … more

When the Talmud asks a question for which no satisfactory answer is evident, it uses the word “teiku” as a way of indicating that we’ll have to wait for the coming of Elijah … more

What makes us happy — or unhappy? The 2018 edition of the World Happiness Report, published annually by a group of United Nations-linked development experts, asserts that a … more