To the Editor: Re “For Gaza’s Babies, War’s Effects Will Never End,” by Alice Rothchild (Opinion guest essay, Jan. 11): The effect of the Israel-Hamas conflict on expectant mothers and on babies is horrific,...
It’s intriguing that when Moshe and Aharon are sent to present themselves to Par’oh and to demonstrate the miracle of a staff turning into a snake, Moshe is commanded by Hashem to tell Aharon...
Each of us lives at the center of a series of concentric circles, the closest one encompassing our immediate family members; the next, friends and neighbors; beyond that, co-religionists or fellow citizens of one’s...
All the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are found in the bracha that Yehudah is given by his father Yaakov – with one exception: the zayin. That fact is pointed out by Rabbeinu Bachya,...
The books considered holy by other religions present their heroes as flawless. One of the indications that the Torah, by contrast, is divine in nature is its recording of flaws of action or attitude...
Many years ago, a wise rebbe of mine, addressing instances of financial finagling by some members of the tribe, explained that the forefathers of us Jews whom we revere are Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov,...
While we celebrate it here in Israel, many fret about it as well. On the one hand, achdus is our most potent spiritual weapon in wartime. This is not to minimize the efficacy of...
When we read the account of Yosef’s unfair imprisonment – and his eventual release after the Egyptian ruler is informed by the sar hamashkim, the butler, of Yosef’s G-d-given ability to interpret dreams...
One might not expect the key to happiness to be hidden in the meeting of Yaakov and Esav recounted in the parsha. But it’s there. When Yaakov explains the lavish gifts he had sent...
by Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l asked powerful questions during the Yom Kippur War: Why don’t we see awakening in prayer and learning despite the crisis of war? He concludes it...
