On a virtual stroll through the website of the “U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel” — a deeply unpleasant experience — I came across an article that drew an analogy I hadn’t encountered before. Intellectually ludicrous and morally ugly, the writer compared the situation of Aida, a Palestinian refugee camp near Bethlehem, with the bombing by the German Luftwaffe of the Basque city of Guernica in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Aida camp is not the most luxurious place on earth, yet it is far from being the worst. more

The latest Edward Snowden revelation is that the NSA and GCHQ, the British equivalent, were spying on the communications of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his cabinet, including Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak and his chief of staff, Yoni Koren. Reaction from senior members of the Israeli Cabinet has been muted, perhaps because they operate on the assumption that they are being monitored. more

I have to thank my long time friend, Danny Levine, proprietor of America’s oldest family-owned Jewish book store, J. Levine and Co., for bringing to my attention the recently released “Derashot Ledorot: A Commentary for the Ages, Exodus” [Maggid Books, 2013] by Rabbi Norman Lamm. This second volume Bible sermons is a most eloquent work going back to over a half century of Rabbi Lamm’s rabbinical career at Manhattan’s The Jewish Center. more

It is time to set the record straight. The undertaking of this column each week is often driven by a desire to find new approaches to oft-repeated ideas in the Torah. By “new” I mean “not the way you’ve been learning it since second grade.” more

It is nearly 20 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I lost about eight seconds of my life and almost died. I had been kept late with a group of students I was teaching, some of whom were struggling with some deep issues, and by the time I got in my car to head home it was nearly 4 am. I was an idiot; I should have stayed over in the dormitory with my students, but I guess I thought I was invincible. I had a cup of coffee with me and assumed that would be enough to get me home; I was wrong. more

This being my two-year anniversary writing this column, I want to thank all of you for the dozens of emails I receive each week in regard to the column. I’m glad I was able to connect with all of you, whether it brought back memories of Grossinger’s, bungalow colonies, Boro Park, the Catskills, school, camp, vacations, and just about anything else. I am truly touched at the wonderful letters of appreciation and positive feedback on many levels. more

At some point over lunch on Shabbat, the story of my husband Jerry’s first car accident came up. My sister-in-law, Shirley, while trying to catch her breath, be- cause she was laughing so hard, turned to me and said “this is you’re article for next week’s paper.” And so it is. As soon as Jerry got his license, he and his friends jumped into his dad’s car to take it for a spin. Before even making it fully out of the driveway he was smashed by a car driving down the street. more

Last week’s parsha showcases the bond between Yosef Ha-Tzadik (Joseph the just one) and Yisrael Sava (Israel the elder) who is also our zeida (grandfather) Ya’akov. This inspiring story of the special relationship of grandfather to grandchildren, prompted the great Yosef of our time, Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt”l, to write an eloquent and learned teaching reflecting upon the first relationship between grandfather and grandsons as recorded in the Bible, that being between Jacob and Ephraim and Menashe. more

The American Studies Association, the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history, announced today their membership has decided to participate in the world’s oldest hatred...anti-Semitism. The way they are exhibiting their hatred is via an academic boycott of the Jewish State. more

In the litany of complaints offered up by Jewish opponents of the State of Israel, two themes are most common. Firstly, they like to claim that their critiques of the Jewish state are “muzzled” by Jewish establishment leaders and organizations. (“Jewish Voice for Peace,” an anti-Zionist group based in the Bay Area with an amusingly kumbaya name, even has a blog dedicated to exposing such intrigues, entitled “Muzzlewatch.”) Secondly, they are fond of pointing out that political debate among progressives in Israel is freer and more open than in the stodgy, cautious circles of American Jewry. more