Chapter 28 in this week’s parsha of Ki Tavoh is one of the most difficult and harrowing chapters in the entire Torah … more

There are so many things in life that are impossible to understand. Yet every now and then, we are afforded a glimpse, as if through a momentary clearing of the fog, of what it’s all … more

A former chief rabbi accused and arrested for possible bribery and embezzlement, a rabbinic leader found guilty of inappropriate behavior with his students, and yet another rabbi accused of bribing … more

At 6:22 am on Oct. 23, 1983, a member of the Islamic Jihad got into his 19 ton yellow Mercedes Benz truck on an otherwise normal day, and headed for Beirut International airport, where the 24th … more

Very few stories in the Torah are more tragic than the story of Joseph and his brothers. It begins, seemingly, with an innocent gift, a demonstration of a father’s love for his beloved child. But when Yaakov bestows the magnificent striped coat on his son Joseph, the ten brothers aren’t so filled with love. Favoritism, jealousy, behaviors far from ideal are brewing, resulting in a moment of tragedy 4,000 years ago that the Jewish people are still struggling to undo. more

In a cattle car in Poland, in the summer of 1942, Reb Azriel Dovid Fastag, a composer for the Modzitzer Rebbe, was headed to his death in Treblinka. Over a hundred Jews, forced to stand for days on … more

Sometimes, things seem so obvious you start to wonder why you are the only one who seems to get it.  This week’s portion, Miketz, begins with a fascinating story that gives us a glimpse … more

Years ago, about to exit the doors of LaGuardia Airport after a long flight, I suddenly realized I had forgotten my tefillin on the plane. I rushed back to the gates only to discover I could not get through without a valid boarding pass, which I no longer had. more

This week’s portion, Toldot, leaves us wondering about the wisdom of Yitzchak’s behavior in one of the more challenging series of events in his life. There is, again, a famine in Canaan (Israel), and Yitzchak journeys to the coastal region of Gerar (probably today’s Gaza strip), to the king Avimelech. Yitzchak, despite the famine, was very successful, with crops yielding 100 fold the normal yield, and he becomes a very wealthy man (26:13-14) which, of course, makes the local Philistines very jealous. more

Visiting Poland is an overwhelming experience. It is a country in which a Jewish community flourished for a thousand years which now serves as a mass memorial to European Jewry. It is impossible to … more