I can still remember the feeling of the weight seeming to lift from my shoulders. It was the summer of ‘86, and I had just returned my gear after four-and-a-half years in the Israeli army. I will never forget the incredible high that lifted my spirits as I realized that for the first time in years, I could do whatever I wanted, without that nagging worry deep inside that I might get a call in the middle of the night. No more patrols or forced marches, guard duty or inspections, no missions to coordinate or briefings to prepare, and no tanks to service and make ready, nor men to cover or train. After four long years I could finally get back to just being me. more

This week’s Torah portion, Devarim, which opens the fifth book of the Torah of the same name, finds Moshe beginning his tragic farewell speech to the Jewish people: “Eileh Ha’Devarim Asher Diber Moshe El Kol Yisrael Be’Ever Ha’Yarden….” “These are the words which Moshe spoke to the entire Jewish people on the other side of the Jordan…” (Devarim 1:1) more

The second of this week’s portions, Massei, begins by describing the many journeys of the Jewish people in the desert on their way to entering the land of Israel. Describing each stop along the way, the Torah delineates no less than 42 separate places the Jewish people passed through on their way to Israel. more

What do you do when someone you love does something you hate? This week, this month, this year, has seen a terrible polarization in Israeli society. Jewish men purporting to represent what Judaism is meant to be, describing themselves as “religious” or “ultra-orthodox,” spitting on other Jews, throwing chairs and hurling derogatory slurs (often worse, in the eyes of Jewish tradition) at other Jews, rallies in New York declaring the Jewish world in a state of catastrophe, a Rosh yeshiva — himself a candidate for Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel — insulted, threatened and even spit upon at a Jewish wedding by other Jews, and now the Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel recusing himself from rabbinical duties in the midst of an Israeli police investigation into financial and sexual improprieties that may involve him; does it get any worse? more

Years ago, about to exit the doors of LaGuardia Airport after a long flight, I suddenly realized I had forgotten my tefillin on the plane. I rushed back to the gates only to discover I could not get through without a valid boarding pass, which I no longer had. more

In 1946, according to legend, a young polish boy digging through the rubble of the Warsaw ghetto found a tube with a manuscript inside. The African American soldier he sold it to for a dollar, recognized it as something Jewish and brought it to the chaplain of the U.S. 8th Army, Rabbi Herschel Schachter, ob”m. Rabbi Schachter quickly realized this was the manuscript of the holy Piaseczner Rebbe, Rav Klonymus Kalman Shapiro H”YD. more

A few weeks ago, at a now much publicized Rosh Chodesh prayer service at the Kotel, things got ugly. As they have been doing for nearly 25 years, a group of women from a range of Jewish backgrounds, known as the Women of the Wall, gathered at the Kotel to pray the special morning prayers of Rosh Chodesh, celebrating the new month in the Jewish calendar. This group included women wearing tallitot and Tefillin, and reading from a Torah scroll. Many ultra-Orthodox Jews (a label that needs defining--beyond the scope of this article) arrived to protest, and things soon got out of hand. more

I remember one of the guys I was in yeshiva with, trying to convince me not to sign up for Officer’s course. I would be forced to spend an additional year and a half in the army, without any spiritual environment to safeguard my religious ideals. “Atah titkalkel,” he said, “you will be corrupted.” more

Never, as long as I live, will I forget that moment, when the sounds of children’s laughter on a beautiful, peaceful Jerusalem afternoon were shattered by the screams of terror and agony that are the music for the dance of the suicide bomber. more

I noticed the jeep in the distance almost immediately, raising a dust column you could see for miles. We were on maneuvers in the Negev desert, and there wasn’t anything else around but us, so we knew immediately the jeep had to be headed our way. Twenty minutes later the jeep pulled up and a man with colonel’s oak-leaves on his shoulders got out. Our commander jumped down for a hurried conference. We were happy for the brief respite; I was in the middle of tank commander’s course, and any break from the grind was always welcome. more