Dear Mr. President, It is with respect that I write to you to express my deepest concerns over reports of your proposed visit to symbolic Palestinian Authority institutions in eastern … more

Did you know that January is National Soup Month? Neither did I, but I am certainly glad that someone decided to honor and highlight this quintessential comfort food. As I sit here writing this, I … more

Jewish people who have traversed the Orthodox experience may have followed any number of paths. The most common are those who were born into Orthodoxy and never left, those who converted or became … more

By Rabbi Avi Billet There is a very subtle change in the way Megillat Esther refers to Haman’s family and advisors before he is disgraced leading Mordechai through the street on a horse, and how … more

By Bracha Goetz Issue of January 10, 2010/ 15 Tevet 5770 Some were shocked. Many were in denial. Others were disillusioned when those tapes emerged. But what happens next? It is wonderful if … more

Parsha Tazria-Metzorah by Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of April 16, 2010/ 2 Iyur, 5770 This second week after Pesach always carries with it a cycle of emotions. Between the return to … more

August 6, 2010/ 26 Av, 5770 Who is the most desperate, destitute member of the Jewish society? It’s a loaded question and there is no correct answer. Unless you specify from whose perspective. … more

It was a morning like any other, a clear sky above the Upper West Side, where my art studio class at LaGuardia High School was starting its fall semester. Across Amsterdam Avenue, the gates of Engine 40 Ladder 35 quickly went up and fire trucks raced downtown carrying 11 men to an unprecedented emergency. more

Sometimes I really miss the political process in my birth country, the United States. more

In Avraham’s relationship with the Almighty, their connection is described in different ways in the Torah. In the beginning of Lekh Lekha, He is “Hashem who appeared to him” … more