Archive for December, 2008

The real test of any leader is what he does when the chips are down — when times are tough. At the start of this week’s Torah reading, Vayigash (Genesis 44:18) the situation is grim.  The youngest son, Binyamin (Benjamin), has been arrested for stealing Joseph’s cup.  Joseph, the #2 man in all of...
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For Hanukkah H. N. Bialik Father lighted candles for me;Like a torch the Shamash shone.In whose honor, for whose glory?For Hanukkah alone. Teacher bought a big top for me,Solid (cast) lead, the finest known.In whose honor, for whose glory?For Hanukkah alone. Mother made a pancake for me,Hot and sweet and sugar-strewn.In whose honor, for...
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Today, December 29, the 2nd of Tevet, is the last day of Hanukah.  Normally a joyous holiday, a time when on a spiritual level we celebrate bringing God’s light into a dark world.  Today, instead, the world feels rather dark, with hundreds of people dying and many more being injured in Gaza, about an...
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STOP HARMING CIVILIANS NOW RHR Rabbis-"Can we say the full Hallel on the 8th day of Hanukah in Light of the Events in Gaza?" The firing on Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza gives the State of Israel the right to defend her citizens, but both the Jewish tradition and international law do not allow...
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Photo of child injured in rocket attack on Sderot, Israel. If you are tuned in enough to be reading this blog, you are tuned in enough to know that "Operation Cast Lead," Israel’s military response to ongoing rocket attacks from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has begun.  The operation started earlier today, Saturday, December...
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* Thanks to Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb For Jewish charitable organizations struggling to make ends meet — what with the market down 40% in a year, and for organizations in Israel raising money in the US, a seriously sinking dollar causing the dollars to go less far — the news of Bernie Madoff’s $50-billion dollar...
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