When Bergen-Belsen was liberated on April 15, 1945, the sight that greeted the British soldiers was hellish, even by concentration camp standards. In a desperate attempt to bury the dead before the … more

In Shemot 19:12, in anticipation of Matan Torah, Moshe told the people, “‘Set a boundary around [the mountain], and tell them to be careful not to climb the mountain, or [even] to touch its edge. … more

Shabbat Nachamu’s haftarah is in many ways the most longed-awaited haftarah of the entire year. Until now, the Three Weeks and Tisha B’Av have forced us to focus upon the seemingly endless … more

Someone has suffered the loss of a loved one. We visit the mourner’s home during shiva to offer words of consolation. Upon leaving, a Sephardic custom is to say “Min hashamayim tenuchamu,” may … more

Why were our Temples in ancient Jerusalem destroyed? Jewish tradition offers answers. The first Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE by the Babylonians, because of the sins of the people of Israel. The … more

In the first mishnah of Pirkei Avot, our Sages teach that the Torah was given to us by Hashem along with the Oral Law: “Moshe received the Torah at Sinai, transmitted it to Yehoshua, who did in … more

In his effort to transmit a lasting imprint on the generation entering the Promised Land, Moshe reminds them of some of the events that defined their nationhood. Among these was the episode of the … more

Walk through the Old City, and you will find one of the oldest streets in the world. Known as the Cardo, it was built by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago and was the main thoroughfare in Jerusalem … more

Rabbinic literature includes the names and teachings of many great and well-known sages. Yet, the rabbi who is mentioned most often in our liturgy is Rabbi Chanania ben Akashya — an obscure … more

Maxim Cohen was born in Morocco and made aliyah as child. He enlisted in the IDF, but left Israel with his parents after the Six-Day War to live in France. On Yom Kippur in 1973, … more