It has been a week of tears and of numbness. Every time I read the list of 45 I become dizzy and faint, wincing in disbelief. Too many names to remember and too many tears to hold back. My eyes are fatigued from withholding tears and throat is soar from choaking the pain. Standing with

In life, before we move forward, we must take inventory. It is true in the business world just as it is true in many areas of life. Without examining and taking stock, we fail to learn from the past and risk repeating the very same mistakes. For religious people “cheshbon hanefesh” – moral inventory –

Covid-19 has changed everything. The past year has produced a seismic shift in almost every aspect of our lives and will continue to shape our identity for years to come. It is overwhelming to consider how much has changed in less than a year. Among everything else, the pandemic has considerably altered our view of

One of the distinctive aspects of Judaism is its emphasis upon Torah study. Unlike other religions in which study is generally relegated for “men of the cloth,” in Judaism the study of the word and will of God – as distilled in His Torah, is incumbent upon everyman. It is the tri-part balance between belief,

The Chanukah miracle was a multi-layered experience: The ever-burning oil reminded us that even in a post-prophetic era Divine intervention still visited our people. For the very first time, we faced anti-religious hostility and fierce attempts to crush our religious belief and practice. Our triumph demonstrated the courage to sacrifice our lives for religion and

The actual state of Israel was established 72 years ago in 1948. However, the modern state of Israel as we know it, was launched in 1967. The six-day war was so revolutionary and so transformative, that in many ways, it was more groundbreaking than 1948. Thousands of years ago, G-d created our natural world in

I just returned from the Gush Etzion cemetery having attended a very unusual Yom Hazikaron ceremony. It was a discouraging but also a triumphant experience. Let me explain. My family often refers to me as a crybaby¬-and they are right. When I witness an emotionally poignant situation, I find it difficult to suppress my tears.

The Purim miracle was a “milestone moment” in Jewish History as a nation, faced with almost certain annihilation, was rescued by Divine intervention. Unlike the Exodus from Egypt, the Purim experience unfolded without overt Divine involvement. It reminded us that G-d always manages history – sometimes in a manifest fashion while other times ‘behind the

Parshat Bo chronicles the dramatic redemption of the Jewish people from a two hundred-year nightmare of backbreaking slavery and oppression. The great “night of redemption” is punctuated by celebratory rituals which ultimately become incorporated into the Pesach Seder. However, before the Jews are informed of these ceremonies, they are instructed to reconfigure their calendar to

The birth of Moshe represents a turning point of the Jewish saga in Egypt. This would-be savior arrives as the Jewish slaves are being mercilessly crushed by Egyptian oppression. Pharaoh had legislated that all Jewish infants be flung into the Nile river and delivered to their inevitable death; Egyptian discrimination had begotten slavery and slavery