One of the painful postscripts of the Holocaust was the saga of the many Jewish children hidden during the war, especially in churches and monasteries across Europe, but whose parents did not survive to find them when the war was over. Some of these children were six or seven years old, and though Jewish by birth, had for all intents and purposes grown up as Christian children with little recollection of their parents or their Jewish roots. more

The radio squawked with commands. I took out my pen and pad out to write down a list of code words for map locations that I would need to translate into coordinates for our impromptu mission. This … more

Before Parshat Pinchas buries itself in the sacrificial order for each holiday (what becomes the Maftir reading for those days), we hear the story of Tzlafchad’s daughters. Without … more

As the history of the Israelites in the wilderness is reviewed in Devarim, an interesting trend is presented. The nations of Eisav, Moav and Ammon are treated as closer than brothers with … more

On March 26, 1979, the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed in Washington. But it almost never happened. President Jimmy Carter tried to scuttle the talks when Anwar Sadat said he would … more

There was once a king who had two advisers. The advisers had a luxurious life as long as they bowed to the whims of the king, which were many. He made unreasonable demands. He was harsh in his … more

Whenever election season rolls around, especially Election Day itself, I get that feel-good democracy vibe. If I was making a “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things” list, I would add … more

The setting: Jerusalem some twenty centuries ago. The occasion: bringing first fruits to the Temple. Here is the scene as the Mishnah describes it. Throughout Israel, villagers would gather in … more

Moses, having set out the prologue and preamble to the covenant and its broad guiding principles, turns in our parsha, Re’eh, to the details, which occupy the greater part of the book of … more

Cancel culture in academia is a serious problem. There is no sector of American society in which dissent is so routinely crushed, or where free speech is most endangered, as the country’s … more