S he was the Other Doctor of Auschwitz and I recently read a story about her in Yitta Halberstam’s small miracles series.  A young woman (we’ll call her Chaya) had just arrived … more

T his week we commemorated the breaching of the Old City walls of Jerusalem by the Roman Tenth Legion on the 17th day of Tammuz in the year 70 C.E., heralding the beginning of the end of the Jewish … more

We had just come in from manning an impromptu roadblock all day and I was still on edge. Six of us had been tasked with setting up the roadblock round a bend in the road in Lebanon’s Bekaa … more

Sometimes, the most powerful experiences are the ones you least expect. Such was the case on a recent trip to Poland. Tucked in between our visits to the Lodz Ghetto in the morning and the Warsaw … more

Many years ago, an elderly man approached me following a lecture on the topic of Emunat Chachamim (the faith we are meant to have in our sages). “Do you know why I am no longer … more

A few months ago, when we were in Poland, we heard an incredible story regarding the Mozhitzer Rebbe’s student, Azriel David Fastag, who was in a cattle car on the way to Treblinka. It was Reb … more

“Kakis, tank officer’s course, is one of the most difficult in the Israeli army. Four and a half grueling months of misery deep in the desert, with little or no sleep, just an endless … more

We’ll call him Gabi (not his real name), a most unlikely recruit. None of us had any idea how and why he had gotten into our unit — he was overweight, to put it mildly, and was always the … more

An open road on a beautiful day, with your kids in the back seat, maybe even a picnic lunch; what could be more perfect? I will always wonder what Tali Hatuel, eight months pregnant, with her four … more

In September 2000, in the wake of the second intifada, my unit was activated up as part of the massive call-up of reserves that occurred as fighting broke out all over the country. We had no idea how … more