Comments by two friends of mine concerning the link between the recently deceased former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and the Jewish people prompts this week’s review; this time, a review of essays, not of books. more

This week’s portion, Re’eh, begins with Moshe’s dramatic presentation of the blessings and the curses, which seem at first glance to be all about the rewards and punishments that await us when we enter the land of Israel, just across the Jordan river: “Re’eh anochi noten lifneichem hayom brachah u’klalah…“See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. more

In the Torah, the city Beer Sheva appears thus named only one time (26:33). Otherwise it is always called Beer Shava. Seforno notes the difference between the vowelization of the two names of the city, while Ibn Ezra offers that when it is called Beer Sheva it might be for two reasons (based on an oath and the number seven) or, perhaps, it is a different (though similarly named) city. more

Last night, as I have done since I was a kid, I viewed the Academy Awards ceremony on TV.  The Awards show, which first took place in 1929 in front of 250 people at the Hollywood Roosevelt … more

Relatives of the 11 Israeli team members who were murdered by Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich have revealed new details of the grizzly … more

As I click on a video from StandWithUs of a pro-Israel rally in London, I’m inspired. Hundreds of people line the road, flanked by tall blue and white Israeli flags. No speeches. No shouts. … more

T his Shabbat is known as “Shabbat Chazon,” based upon the opening words of our haftarah: “The vision (chazon) of Yeshayahu (Isaiah) the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning … more

On one of my first assignments abroad as a rookie journalist back in the early 1990s, I found myself in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, just as the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia was getting … more

The most prominent Jewish leader in America did not mince words when it came to the question of whether the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) should have an office in … more

When I was a little girl, living a sheltered religious childhood where profanity was unheard and unacceptable, whenever I would hear people speak of “Aza,” Gaza in Hebrew, I would blush … more