If anyone can be said to have discovered the formula for a world without evil, that accolade belongs to the great medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides. "For through cognition … more

The base themes of the holiday of Purim are survival and the smile. Irony in my opinion is a smile with a clear understanding of the inner meaning of the biblical text, in this case that of the Book … more

This might not be such a bad time for photographers. For years, old pros — meaning experienced and skilled professional photographers, as well as myself — have been complaining that … more

To hear the news media tell it, Israel’s Knesset has approved extreme right-wing legislation that will steal Palestinian land by legalizing illegal outposts and thereby demolish the last hopes … more

To say the implementation of President Donald Trump’s travel ban was clumsy would be an understatement. To say, however, that the principles involved were totally without constitutional … more

There are all kinds of sayings reminding us that if we fail to learn from the tragedies of the past, we are doomed to relive them in the future. We appear to have failed to heed that … more

In the midst of the upheaval regarding President Trump’s travel pause, there was one Trump action that received little news coverage and what it did get was unfairly negative … more

I admit that this sounds perverse, but Iran’s recent ballistic missile test was welcome in one important sense. Let me explain. Just more than a fortnight into President Donald Trump’s … more

After Moshe followed the instructions that made the waters of Marah drinkable, we are told, “There he taught them ‘chok u’mishpat’ and there he tested them.” The simple … more

One of the many beautiful tefilot that we recite on Shabbat and Yom Tov is Nishmat Kol Chai.  I find the following passage to be particularly striking in its spiritual depth and … more