As we approach Tisha B’av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem I wanted to share this story with you. My friend A.Y. Katsof pictured above left is an Ashkenazi Jew who currently lives with his family in biblical Samaria. The press would consider him a “settler.” Read more
The results for UN’s 2023 World Happiness Report look at the extremely challenging three year period of 2020 – 2022. After Finland, Denmark and Iceland — Israel was the happiest country in the world… way ahead of the USA (#15), Canada (#13) and United Kingdom (#19)! Not only did Israel Read more
The Torah Model for Marriage
This is a presentation of the Jewish approach to marriage and sexuality, highlighting the benefits of entering into a monogamous heterosexual relationship for life, without having premarital relations. (more…)
We have a saying…
Every week, in an unbroken chain for over 3,300 years, Torah Observant Jews around the world have been keeping Shabbat.
It is a beautiful experience to take a day off, and sanctify the Shabbat by reciting Kiddush over wine and then break bread over two loaves of Challah with family and friends.
But Shabbat is much more than taking a day off work, as we learn in this week’s Torah portion, VaYachel-Pekudei. (more…)
Freedom from physical slavery is the first exodus. Then comes freedom from psychological enslavement. Passover shows us how to break lose from our mental chains. (more…)
This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-124:18) has one of the most often quoted yet misunderstood verses in the Torah.
And this misunderstanding has had serious consequences about how non-Jews view the “Old Testament” and Orthodox Judaism. (more…)
When the month of Adar arrives, joy increases! How do we do that in the face of annihilation? How can we be happy when our Iranian enemies are pushing ahead with their plan to destroy the State of Israel? This isn’t the first time a madman in Iran (Persia) has Read more
You may be confused by the headlines coming from Israel. Large protests are taking place against the Netanyahu Government’s proposed reforms to reduce the power of the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down laws passed by the Knesset. I’d have to give a one-hour zoom session to explain in detail Read more
This week’s Torah portion, Vaera (Exodus 6:2-9:35) begins in a very confusing way… וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹקים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְקוָק׃ And God (ELO-HIM) spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am YHVH“. Did you catch that? God, whom the Torah calls ELO-HIM, is speaking to Moses, and telling Moses Read more
In this week’s Torah Portion (Exodus), there a quite a few references to “Hebrews.” Moses is called a Hebrew child by Pharoah’s daughter (Ex. 2:6) God of the Hebrews (Ex. 5:3) etc. It’s obvious that the text is referring to the enslaved Tribes of Israel when it uses the term Read more