A number of years ago, I had an uncomfortable experience. I ran into an old friend who, like me, is an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion in the Gush. He had started a cutting-edge program for women …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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4/23/25
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Previously published.
I noticed the jeep in the distance almost immediately; it was impossible to miss. We were on maneuvers deep in the Negev and there was nothing around but us. Twenty minutes …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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4/9/25
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I received this story via email:
A lady passing a young boy on the street noticed he was entranced by a pair of shoes in a store window. “You’re in such deep thought staring in that …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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4/2/25
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In the fall of 2012, Israel was again preparing for war in response to the thousands of missiles being fired indiscriminately from the Gaza Strip into the population centers of southern Israel. As …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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3/19/25
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Jerusalem, 722 BCE: The mightiest army on the face of the earth has surrounded the city, bent on conquest and determined to put an end to the Jewish people once and for all.
Approximately 35,000 …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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3/12/25
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This week’s portion, Tetzaveh, opens with a mitzvah which seems at first glance to be out of place:
Hashem tells Moshe: “Ve’Atah Te’tzaveh Et B’nei Yisrael, …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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3/5/25
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S ometimes inspiration comes in the simplest of moments, like a good cup of coffee. In the fall of 2000, my unit was called up on special emergency orders (known as a Tzav Shmoneh ). I still recall …
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By Binny Freedman
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2/26/25
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It was her eyes that really captured me. There was an intense sadness there mixed with pain, and yet every now and then a flash of fire that seemed to suggest … defiance?
As the woman was …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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2/12/25
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At 6:22 am on Oct. 23, 1983, a member of the Islamic Jihad got into his 19-ton yellow Mercedes Benz truck on an otherwise normal day, and headed for Beirut International airport, where the 24th …
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By Rabbi Binny Freedman
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2/5/25
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Walk into any Jewish home and ask yourself: What distinguishes it as a Jewish home?
There is actually no ritual, biblical obligation concerning the Jewish home, save one: the mezuzah. One would …
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By Binny Freedman
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1/29/25
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