Recently, I’ve been nursing some concerns about the way the Israeli government is handling its response to the BDS campaign against the Jewish state, and with it the wider challenges of … more

Sheesh. I just don’t get it. Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Jerusalem, and makes a groundbreaking speech at the Knesset. He acknowledges that the modern state of Israel is on the cusp … more

Last Saturday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The date, which commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, is the one most of the world uses to remember the Shoah, even if Israel … more

This past weekend, the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Many of us also know it as the day that Auschwitz was liberated. The hashtag #We Remember was used throughout the day to … more

This week’s parsha begins by telling us that Yisro heard what G-d had done for Israel in taking them out of Egypt: So “Yisro, father-in-law of Moshe, took Zipporah, wife of Moshe, after … more

A prevalent custom in Ashkenazic shuls is for the congregation to stand when the Ten Commandments are read from the Torah. This is a symbolic re-enactment of the Revelation at Mount Sinai, when the … more

The first 12 pasukim of our parasha, Yitro, relate the story of Yitro’s departure from Midian in order to join Moshe and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The Torah initially gives Yitro three … more

Yes, there is an inside story to the Exodus, the defining moment and experience that culminated in the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery and their open observance of the Jewish … more

In Monday’s New York Times, columnist Max Fisher treated Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Israel as just another expression of what he considers the divisive policies of the Trump … more

This is the story of the making of the book, “Search Engine: Finding Meaning in Jewish Texts.” I don’t normally talk about myself but I find it hard to refuse a request from … more