History has a unique way of both intruding on and inspiring current events. The recent trip to Israel by Pope Francis and his visit to the gravesite of Theodore Herzl is but one recent example of this phenomenon. more

Towards the end of Shlach, the Torah gives us instructions for a case of what Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan entitles, “Communal Sin Offerings for Idolatry,” based no doubt on Rashi’s explanation of the phrase, “When [the collective] you err and don’t do all of these commandments.” more

The school of thought that describes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as “the Middle East conflict” is dangerously misguided, because it ignores other factors that are far more important, such as the historically violent schism between Sunni and Shi’a Islam, Iran’s renewed assertiveness in Syria and Lebanon, the shared strategic interests binding Israel and the conservative regimes in the Arab Gulf in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the fragmentation of the various jihadi groups in Sinai, Syria, Iraq, and other territories. more

May saw a series of tweets by MSNBC hosts displaying a lack of sensitivity about the Holocaust which some would call anti-Semitic. more

Although Philip Bach, a”h, struggled with Familial Dysautonomia (FD) from birth and only lived to the age of 27, he managed to touch the hearts and lives of many in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway community. more

SATURDAY JUNE 14 FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE SHABBAT PARTY featuring a Shabbat Oneg for children with special needs and their siblings. Program includes stories, snacks and fun. 4 to 5 pm. Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedar-hurst. 516-295-2478. more

Two well-known contemporary rabbis. Two prolific authors. Two personal journeys. One Rebbe. Rabbis Joseph Telushkin and Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz have come out with new volumes on “the Rebbe,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, 20 years after the death of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement’s seventh and final leader. more

Many questions surrounded the future of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidism after the death of its seventh and final leader—“the Rebbe,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson—on June 12, 1994 (3 Tammuz, 5754). Schneerson had no children, and no successor was named. But 20 years later, Chabad is not only alive and well, but increasingly receiving the so-called highest form of flattery: imitation. more

Electoral upsets happen every so often in Nassau County. There was Republican Dan Frisa beating his party’s incumbent, David Levy, in 1994. Like Levy, Frisa became a one-term congressman after a challenger, Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, unseated him in 1996. more

A sixth grade social studies fair tied great-grandsons to great-grandparents and united four families related to the same ancestor, at Far Rockaway’s Yeshiva Darchei Torah. more