According to a paper published last week by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), documents recovered by Israeli intelligence from Iran’s hidden nuclear archive and … more

The awesome massacre in Pittsburgh this past weekend casts a pall of irony and horror on the upcoming observance of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Of all the essays that I have read in … more

It was a gray and drizzly day in Pittsburgh, usually a beautiful place, green and fresh, when a synagogue was hit at 9:45 am on Saturday, yet another target of that inexhaustible strain that is … more

Sarah dies, and Avraham approaches the local Hittites and asks to speak to Ephron ben Tzochar, “that he should give me to me the Machpelah cave at the edge of his field, for its full price, … more

Holocaust Day in 2017 was the first one … more

Lately I have been doing a lot of research on vegetarian eating. While I’m not ready to give up my occasional medium-rare steak, or my Shabbat chicken dinners, or brisket, I am ready to lean … more

One of the most enduring challenges in the Binding of Isaac story, the Akedah, is that as much as we explore it, the less we understand it. Which is why the challenge to understand the … more

Akeidat Yitzchak, the binding of Isaac, one of the most challenging stories in Jewish history. A parent is asked to do the unthinkable: to sacrifice his beloved only son, in the name of … … more

The opening paragraph of the Amidah, recited as the central prayer of our daily liturgy, refers to the “G-d of Avraham, G-d of Yitzchak and G-d of Yaakov.” And yet, when the blessing … more

One of the many famous topics in our parasha is the destruction of the thoroughly wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As the entire Land of Israel would one day belong to Avraham’s … more