There is war, and then there is madness. In war, one often has to fight, but when madness sets in, sometimes, perhaps one simply has to run. Such was the question on that dark October afternoon in 1973, when the quiet beauty and desolation of the Suez Canal was ruptured by the roar of an entire army crossing the water, bent on bloodshed. more

The Torah never addresses when a newborn is to be named. Just about every Biblical figure introduced at birth is named right away. This would not come as much of a shock in a pre-Avraham and pre-bris era. But the fact that Yitzchak, Yaakov, Eisav, and all of Yaakov’s sons (perhaps with the exception of Binyamin’s second name) are named the moment they are born (or so it seems) stands to leave open the idea that in Biblical times, boys were named before the bris. more

It is with the greatest sense of delight and pride that I come aboard as Publisher and Editor of The Jewish Star. more

Imagine that you live in a country that has just elected Adolf Hitler as its head of state. Your name is Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, rabbi, and a leading authority on Jewish law who is revered by many for your wisdom, knowledge and compassion. more

Sometimes ignoring the problem will not make it go away. It would simply continue to fester, gradually gaining in momentum, peeling away support from the mainstream, speaking a message of irreverence and rebellion in a time of widespread disaffection. more

Once, in the midst of a class, I noticed a student’s eyes begin to water. We were having a discussion about identity, and how we tap in to who we really are. In tears, he explained how he had arrived at Isralight in Jerusalem. He had been a concert violinist with enormous potential, until in a tragic freak accident; he got his hand caught in a car door. After all the hospital care and operations, his hand was left partially paralyzed, and his career in music was over. And he realized, with panic, that he had no idea who he was any more. Whenever anyone would ask ‘what do you do?’ his response had always been: “I’m a violinist.” But that was no longer true. So who was he? more

The announcement came Monday after the markets closed, just as expected the “Super Committee” whose job was to cut $1.2 trillion out of the budget failed. “Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve,” Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, co-chairs of the super committee, said in a written statement. more

This may seem trivial. And to be honest, I may be completely wrong. But I can’t help thinking there’s something deeper behind the names Avraham and Yitzchak seem to give to the city where they each forge a treaty with Avimelech. more

Dear Aviva, Our family has owned Max, a lhasa apso, for many years now. He is a part of our family and we would never consider giving him away. The problem is that many of our neighbors and friends are admittedly not “dog-people.” This has never been a problem because we would just send him outside or put up our gate to keep him on one side of the house. Some of our friends have even grown to appreciate Max since he’s so tame and lovable. more

One of the oldest concepts in the Law is “standing.” Black’s Legal Dictionary defines Standing as “A party’s right to make a legal claim or seek judicial enforcement of a duty or right.” In plain English, it means do you own the right of the claim. This is the first issue to come up in any court case, as the Court must decide if the party suing “owns the claim.” more