Many years ago, long before we founded Yeshivat Orayta, I was privileged to direct a program called Isralight, which was what some would call a kiruv, or outreach, program. The students, mostly … more

I’m old school. My social media is limited. I’m on Facebook, but I’m not that active. While I have met some interesting people on Facebook, it is rare for me to really follow … more

One evening about 30 years ago, my girlfriend, who is now my wife, returned to her small flat in London with her eyes swollen with tears, and the backs of her knees and thighs covered in painful … more

T his week’s Torah portion describes the “fundraising campaign” of the ancient Israelites in connection with building the Mishkan, the temporary sanctuary while they were in the … more

Our parasha, Terumah, focuses upon the mitzvah of constructing the Mishkan (portable desert Sanctuary). The verse that conveys this commandment is found early on in our Torah reading: “And … more

This week marks the Sheloshim commemorative of the passing of one of my heroes and a hero of our people, Moshe Arens.  Seven years ago I had the honor to have interviewed him in … more

This past Sunday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Set on the anniversary of the Russian Army’s liberation of Auschwitz, the day was created by the United Nations to remember and … more

A comprehensive survey of European attitudes to anti-Semitism released last week by the European Union displays what its authors call a “perception gap.” The term means that … more

The video, with suspenseful music playing in the background, opens with footage of a crowd of Orthodox Jews. Then it paraphrases a classic poem about the Holocaust. “First they came … more

Lily Widner has cheated death too many times to remember each close call. The 97-year-old Jewish Floridian survived starvation in the ghetto of her native Polish city of Lodz, two Nazi death camps … more