Our parasha, Vaera, contains the four instances in Chamisha Chumshei Torah (the Five Books of the Torah) wherein the phrases “l’ma’an teida” (“in order that you should … more

About a month ago, I wrote in this column about a group of British animal rights activists who employed Nazi imagery in a vicious campaign against a kosher abattoir (slaughterhouse) in London. This, … more

Now that President Obama has been replaced by Donald Trump, those who served in the Israeli government can start to unburden themselves about the anti-Israel administration that left office last … more

Two days into my first Taglit-Birthright Israel trip, during which I led a group of 40 Americans around Israel, I heard the news of the Obama administration’s unprecedented refusal to veto a … more

In the year 1263, Raymond de Penyafort of Spain challenged the Jewish people to a debate. As the Church’s representative, he chose a Dominican friar named Pablo Christiani, a Sephardic Jew who … more

Rabbi Chaim ben Moshe Attar, the legendary Or Hachaim, author of the famed Chumash commentary of the same title, was born in Sale, in the western part of Morocco, in 1696. Sale’s role in Jewish … more

The first five pasukim (verses) of our parasha Shemot present the names of the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel that came to Egypt: “And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to … more

On Monday I followed a custom I’ve undertaken to listen to a speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the day America has dedicated to him based loosely on his birthday, and in listening to his … more

John Kerry stepped up to the podium to deliver what was said to be the “vision” of the Obama administration for a Israeli/Palestinian peace. Instead he presented a one-sided 75 minute, … more

It started with the disturbing U.N. resolution that, by America’s calculated abstention, was disgracefully allowed to pass. “Abstain.” It sounds harmless. But it was precisely … more