Some time ago, at a Rosh Chodesh prayer service at the Kotel, things got ugly. As they had been doing for nearly 25 years, a group of women from a range of Jewish backgrounds, known as the … more

It is a conversation I will remember forever. We were in the midst of basic tank training, enjoying a brief respite from the grueling pace of maneuvers and marches. The tanks were encamped … more

Many years ago, an elderly man approached me following a lecture on the topic of emunat chachamim (the faith we are meant to have in our sages). “Do you know why I am no longer … more

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to take a long-overdue vacation with my family in Walt Disney World. For our children, who had just spent the better part of a year dealing with the … more

This doesn’t look like such a good idea, said Benjy, commander of an elite company in Golani’s Egoz unit, in the summer of 2006. “I know,” responded his commander, … more

The sun had long since set, dark clouds hid the stars, and the wind was howling off the Shouf mountain range in central Lebanon. I had managed to quietly sing the Kabbalat Shabbat service … more

One afternoon during the second Intifada, our unit responded to heavy gunfire coming from El Khader, one of the Arab villages along … more

There is war, and then there is madness. In war, one has to fight, but when madness sets in, sometimes has to run. Such was the question on a dark October afternoon in 1973, when the quiet beauty … more

If you would have asked me what Abir would end up doing with his life, I would have imagined him as a bouncer.... Abir, an ex-paratrooper, is one of the unsung heroes of the battle of the … more

His eyes haunt me. His name was Martin Shtiebel, and his picture is one of many on display in the museum at Dachau, the first and longest standing concentration camp. In 1933, the year Hitler … more