Dear Joe, On your podcast the other day you casually mentioned one of the most prominent and persistent anti-Jewish tropes the world has ever seen: the idea that Jews love money. But instead of … more

On Feb. 5, a New York Times front page article and web headline proclaimed, “In West Bank, Settlers Sense Their Moment After Far Right’s Rise.” This theme is expanded in the … more

Viewing the American political scene today, I can’t help thinking about what Yeats wrote more than a century ago: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed … more

Na’aseh v’nishmah — we will do, and we will hear and understand — are two of the most celebrated words that appear in Parashat Mishpatim (24:7). In some ways, this phrase … more

A standard question to ask an eight-year-old used to be, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Every child had an answer, which ranged from “fireman” to … more

In the summer of 1935, even after two years, they still didn’t get it. Germany had begun to gear up for the 1936 Olympics and Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, had made it his mission … more

Two words we read towards the end of our parsha, Mishpatim — na’aseh ve-nishma, “We will do and we will hear” — are among the most famous in Judaism. They are what our … more

On a recent trip to the US, I — an Israeli “settler” representing the proud Jewish community of biblical Hebron — encountered three Muslims in three different places. Our … more

The idea of using food as medicine is nothing new. Maimonides believed in using food to prevent and treat illness and to maintain health. But what if your health is already in the throes of a cold or … more

Marcel Proust’s advice that people never meet their heroes lest they be disappointed fits to a T the Pink Floyd co-founder and erstwhile recluse Roger Waters. While I never actually thought … more