A few years ago, I had the privilege of attending my brother’s “White Coat Ceremony” at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine one day between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. more

One of the earlier verses in the parsha describes the encouragement Moshe gave to Yehoshua in the last days before passing the baton of leadership to him. more

Reproduced from Time For My Soul: A Treasury of Jewish Stories for Our Holy Days American Jews take religious freedom for granted. On the other side of the world, in Soviet Russia, religious freedom is denied to two and a half million of our brethren. Let me tell you a story that took place in Moscow, during Simchas Torah, 1967, to illustrate how some Jews struggled for religious freedom. more

I am a life long Democrat and a religious Jew. I have upon occasion, voted for Republicans or Independents, but in the main, I have stayed loyal to the party of FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, LBJ and Bill Clinton. I have done so out of a profound belief that Democrats best personify all the values that we, as a people, have come to stand for throughout the Diaspora, and since the founding of the State of Israel. more

The Rosh Hashanah davening is always a cause for pause. Every year during “Unetaneh Tokef” we hear the phrase, “How many will be born, and how many will die,” and we think abstractly about the weight of this phrase. Some years, though, we hear the same phrase wailed emotionally by the same chazzan as last year in exactly the same way, and it breaks our hearts because the esoteric has become actualized and we have seen the difference a year makes. more

Obama is No Friend of Israeli Security or American Honor The NY Times published an op ed on 9/5 by Saban stating why he thought Jews should vote for Obama. Below is the op ed I submitted in response, but was not printed. more

Sept 22nd, Once again this year Rav Moshe Weinberger will be giving his shiur on Inyanei Teshuva on Motsai Shabbos Shuva, September 22/ 6 Tishrei, at 9:15 p.m. The shiur will take place in the Main Shul at Aish Kodesh with Audio hookup for men and women in the Aish Kodesh social hall. Rav Weinberger’s Shiur will be available on teleconference at (626) 677-3000, pin 183654#. If you would like to participate in sponsoring or dedicating this Drasha, please contact Elliot Blumenthal at elliot.blumenthal@yahoo.com. more

This has been a particularly awful week for President Obama and his foreign policy, especially in the Middle East. Early in the week there was the public split with Israel’s Netanyahu about drawing a “red line” that Iran’s nuke program must not pass, highlighted by a spat between the Israeli Prime Minister and the U.S. Ambassador, and the President’s choice of a campaign appearance on Lettermen over an emergency meeting with Netanyahu. more

Iran’s threats to destroy Israel loom large and loud to two rabbis, one local and one in California, both who have taken to heart the lessons of Hitler’s pre Holocaust threats and his carrying them out. more

Consistent with the new year, HAFTR Middle School ran a pre-Rosh Hashana food drive to help out the local JCC food pantry. more