Chapter 23, verses 2-4 list a number of male types who may not enter “k’hal Hashem,” the community of G-d. On a simple level, the verses seem strange. The first two individuals – men who have become sterile on account of external, or unnatural incidents – are likely Jewish men. As is the “mamzer,” the product of two Jewish people who participated in a Torah-forbidden relationship. Don’t they enter the community of G-d the moment they are born? more

Two words; two chilling words, that have haunted a generation of Israelis, Jews, and innocents around the world, were heard yet again, piercing the peaceful quiet of the Negev desert this past week, as all too suddenly, a quiet peaceful afternoon suddenly filled with the screams of the dying and the wounded as Arab Hamas-sponsored terrorists once again targeted the innocent in a horrific series of attacks. more

As September looms and the thought of what the UN could vote upon in reference to Israel comes scarily closer, many feel the desperation of the future of the State of Israel. Not only that, but recent terror attacks once again remind us that the uncertainty that continues to dominate elements of Israel’s future may sometimes foment within us feelings of despair over what is yet to come. more

Ten years ago this week, on the 20th of Av (Aug. 9 2001) at 2pm, I was sitting in the back of the Sbarro’s Pizzeria in Jerusalem when a suicide bomber walked in and detonated the bomb belt he was wearing, murdering 15 innocent people and injuring scores of others. more

This parsha features another installment of Moshe’s Wilderness History 101 crash course for the second generation entitled, “Where your parents messed up at the Golden Calf.” It includes Moshe’s account of how he went up the mountain for three 40-day spans, and how G-d wanted to destroy the people but didn’t, on account of Moshe’s prayer. more

Tisha B’Av is a date on the calendar most noted by observant Jews. Differently affiliated Jews generally confine their annual Jewish fasting to Yom Kippur. The concept of sadness or a connection to the darker side of our people’s history is by no means exclusive to any group. History’s enemies of the Jewish people (some of whom continue to make history now) never differentiated between how people practiced their Judaism, as much as they obsessed over the fact that Jews identified as Jews. more

One of the most important moments before a mission, in which the right commander can make all the difference actually has very little to do with the actual mission. After all the training is done, and all the preparations are in order, the unit is ready to go, and the waiting game begins. And there is a moment, a last opportunity, for the commander to inspire his men. more

The first Tisha B’Av memory is the incident of the spies, which set in stone the concept of a “b’khiya l’dorot” – a date on which all future generations will have reason to cry. (Taanit 29a) more

Dedicated to the memory of my cousin Binyamin ben Daniel ve’Yehudit, Benji Hillman, hy”d, of blessed memory, a Company Commander in Golani’s elite Egoz unit who fell leading his men into battle in the Second Lebanon War on the 24th of Tammuz in the summer of 2006. more

In the history of mankind, rulers have often had the power over who will live and who will die. In some cases, one’s prison sentence might be linked indefinitely to the grudge of the ruling power, and reprieve might come about upon the latter’s death. Much would depend on the nature of the crime of which the individual stood accused, while in many cases, there may not have been a crime committed at all. more