As I write this on the evening of Mother’s Day, I think about my own mother who, to be honest, was not a very good cook. She had absolutely no interest in cooking or baking. She was a … more

The tourist bus that parked opposite Rachel’s Tomb two weeks ago, on one of the days of the Chanukah holiday, did not attract any special attention — until the moment its doors opened. … more

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Monday that a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia was achievable within a year, but warned that the window of opportunity was … more

T he Yalkut Shimoni’s opening comment in his Midrashic exposition on Parshas Vayakhel is translated as follows: Vayakhel Moshe, and Moshe gathered: Our Rabbis, the master Aggadists, said … more

Ask Aviva Issue of August 20, 2010/ 10 Elul 5770 Dear Aviva, I have worked very hard over the past few years in school; maintaining a great GPA while juggling a young family and an almost … more

Al Sharpton’s incitement of anger and violence in the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case recalls what he did in Crown Heights. Twenty-two years ago, a tragic car accident in that Brooklyn neighborhood escalated into a pogrom against the Jewish people. The media gives it a politically correct description — violence between the area’s blacks and Jews. But the violence was not two-sided, it was an attack on the Jews by the neighborhood’s Caribbean community, fueled in part by Al Sharpton, now an MSNBC host and adviser to President Obama. more

The beginning of Parshat Bechukotai paints an image of the kind of blessing we hope to receive from G-d. There are three conditions that Israelites must fulfill before they can enjoy G-d’s … more

Having not seen his 6 Israeli grandchildren since the beginning of July, my husband Jerry planned a trip to visit them. A few days after he booked his flight and notified his son Yoni in Efrat (along … more

Again this year, there is evidence of a polarization in Israeli society. Jewish men purporting to represent what Judaism is meant to be, describing themselves as “religious” or … more

Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, author of Eim Habanim Semeichah,  described a Kol Nidrei during the Holocaust, Yom Kippur 1942. He was in Hungary, from which mass deportations wouldn’t … more