The parsha of Yitro records the revolutionary moment when G-d, Creator of Heaven and Earth, entered into a mutually binding agreement with a nation, the Children of Israel, an agreement we call a … more

BDE. We are sad to report that Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple was niftar on Jan. 19. He was the Senior Rabbi of The Great Synagogue of Sydney between 1972 and 2005 and one of Australia’s highest … more

The concluding section of our parasha, Beshalach, contains the account of our ancestors’ mortal combat with Amalek, the marauding desert tribe that sought to destroy us following our departure … more

May 1948. Tough times for the Jewish people, particularly for Jews struggling to claw out a place for themselves in a land they hoped to claim as their own. A few months after the United Nations … more

Jewish history is a series of encounters with evil rulers. Pharaoh, whom we have been reading about up until this week’s Torah portion of Beshalach, was just the first tyrant who persecuted us. … more

‘Then Moses sang’ This week’s Torah portion, Bershalach (Ex. 15:1), begins, “Az Yashir Moshe” (usually translated “Then Moses sang,” though literally … more

In September 2010, BBC, Reuters, and other news agencies reported on a sensational scientific discovery. Researchers at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado … more

T wo pasukim in our parasha, Bo, tell the story of our people’s departure from Eretz Mitzrayim: •It came to pass at the end of 430 years, and it came to pass in that very day, that … more

O ne of the most revealing moments in the beginning of Parshat Bo comes when Pharaoh’s officials say to him, in advance of the pending plague of locusts, “How long will this [man] … more

Sometimes we feel inspired. We may be working hard, but we don’t seem to mind, because we love the work we are doing and believe in it. The ability to do all that is expected of us … more