The most recent news out of Israel is very encouraging. On Sunday a cease-fire went into effect between Israel and all of the major Palestinian terror organizations; the cease-fire has even has the support of exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, which is crucial in making it stick. Meshal first said he would give the...
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Of the three avot, “fathers” of the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Isaac seems to be the least appreciated and least discussed. Abraham has three parshiot, Lech Lecha, Vayera, and Chayei Sarah largely devoted to telling his story; Jacob has two, Vayeshev, and Vayishlach. But we really only hear Isaac’s story in this...
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It’s been nearly a year since Lauri and I first started talking about the idea of making aliyah. We were inclining toward making aliyah by January of this year, and by February we went “official” with it. For a long time after we made our decision it was there as a decision, but still...
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The kabbahlists, the Jewish mystics, would say there is a “Torah-way” to do any action that might come your way, from giving charity to tying your shoes. The students of the rabbis of old would pay attention to every last detail of how their teachers conducted themselves, trying to tease some insight into proper...
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Today we read one of the most troubling passages in the Torah. To a parent, it is surely one of the scariest verses in the entire Torah. God said “Take now your son, your only son, which you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt...
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Sojourner’s Truth, Toledo’s African-American newspaper, ran a front page article about our visitor from Uganda. Rabbi Aaron Kintu Moses: Helping Lead Uganda’s Black Jews to the Promised Land By Alan AbramsSojourner’s Truth Reporter "Have you heard the story about the two Falashas (the black Jews of Ethiopia) who met in Israel?" Rabbi Barry Leff...
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