This Sunday, New York will celebrate 64 years since Israel declared its independence by hosting what has become an institution for 48 years. The largest gathering of Jews outside of Israel to commemorate and celebrate the forming of the Jewish State is the Israel Day Parade which has in the past been arranged by the Israel Tribute Committee with respect and dignity. more

There is a widespread custom to stay up on Shavuot evening learning Torah. Obvious, you’ll say, but the truth is that the custom is mostly kabbalistic in nature. more

Last Wednesday, the house next door to mine was the setting for the upcoming movie, Blood Ties, starring James Caan, Mila Kunis and Clive Owen. My house was used as a rest area in lieu of their trailer, which was parked a few blocks away. more

This week we celebrate the festival of Shavuot, commemorating a moment, 3200 years ago, when we all stood together, beneath a wind-swept mountain, deep in the Sinai desert. more

The text of Pirkei Avos is the only segment of the Talmud that does not deal with halachah. The commentator of this new edition is the newly appointed Rosh Yeshiva at Lander College. more

On June third, hundreds of shuls within reasonable distance of Manhattan will be renting busses, carpooling and finding other means of transportation to show their love of the Jewish State at the annual Salute to Israel Parade (now called Celebration Israel). more

It started with attempts to protect sexual offenders and child abusers –going so far as co-opting a public official into treating justice as a religious choice rather than an American right. more

A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading a newspaper of the Klu Klux Klan. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon. Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader, 
“Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading a Klu Klux Klan newspaper?” more

Shavuot? Already? How is that possible? Didn’t we just put away the last of our Pesach dishes, or, alternatively for some, unpacked our luggage? I’m actually still eating toasted coconut covered marshmallows because my son Jeremy always insists that we have more than enough to last through Pesach. more

Many who write about this parsha focus on the question that Rashi asks (quoting the Sifra on B’har), “Why are the rules of Shmittah (the Sabbatical year for the land of Israel) mentioned in the context of ‘Moshe at Mt. Sinai?’” more