Decades ago, when I was in my 20s, I published a book of short essays. The final one was titled “The Beauty of Anti-Semitism.” That provocative phrase was meant to embody the idea that … more

When Israel Police representative in Latin America Walter Alejandro Kogan boarded a bus in Argentina and approached Mali Yahalomi, 50, and her daughter Liel, 23, he didn’t demand to know why … more

In six weeks, Israelis will go to the polls to elect a new government. They will be doing so for the first time since the Hamas pogrom of Oct. 7, 2023, brutally transformed the political landscape … more

Full disclosure: Chai Lifeline is a client. I have spent years telling their story professionally, placing coverage of the camps, the crisis teams, the volunteers who show up when a family hears the … more

Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster film “The Odyssey” has inspired legions of fans who never gave a thought to ancient Greece and its contribution to Western culture. That’s a positive … more

For the past several weeks, in anticipation of the upcoming Days of Awe, I have devoted this column to the topic of teshuva , repentance.   Many of us find this topic quite scary. … more

We are roughly at the halfway point in sefer Devarim, about to complete this Shabbat the sixth parsha, Ki Tetzei, with five more to go. It is noteworthy that four of the first five parshiyot of … more

We have been hearing the shofar every morning through the month of Elul, and I always find that it creates this looming feeling that the Yamim Noraim are coming. Uru yesheinim mishinaschem , the … more

This week’s Torah reading contains a passage that bothered me for many years. It hasn’t in recent times, though that’s not necessarily good news. In parshat Ki Seitzei, we read about a boy … more

In Deuteronomy 24, we encounter — for the first time — the explicit statement of a law of far-reaching significance: Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children … more