One of the most prominent segments of our parasha is known as Parashat HaMoadim, the Section of the Festivals. Its 44 verses comprise the 23rd chapter of Vayikra and serve as an encyclopedic … more

Our parasha, Behar, begins with the famous words: “And the L-rd spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying” (Vayikra 25:1). They are immediately followed by a verse focusing on the mitzvah … more

Facilities Manager Tom Farzetta whisked a reporter through the revamped emergency department at Far Rockaway’s St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, which now boasts a medical-surgery unit, a … more

Something remarkable happens in this week’s parsha, Nitzavim, that changed the very terms of Jewish existence, and has life-changing implications for all of us. Moses renewed the … more

Treating the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as a zero-sum game guarantees that peace can’t be made. The only way to create mutual understanding, and hopefully, a path towards … more

To the lexicon of new terminology introduced by the coronavirus pandemic, we can add the latest entry: “Zoombombing,” or the practice of hijacking private videoconferencing calls on … more

In Israel, even a bus ride can become an existential experience. On a long, crowded bus ride from Haifa to Jerusalem, a fellow in a long black coat and black hat was sitting towards the rear of … more

In a bygone era of New York City politics, you could always tell if a politician was serious about running for mayor if he made public plans to travel to the three “I’s”: … more

Egged on by a rabble-rouser who literally wore a political bumper sticker on his chest, a crowd of angry Boro Park Charedim protested coronavirus restrictions during Chol Hamoed Sukkot, burning … more

During a recent visit to the United Arab Emirates’ Jewish community, Israel’s Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef inaugurated the first certified Jewish school in the Gulf states and … more