The recent revolution in Egypt that removed the Moslem Brotherhood from power (is it only temporarily?) reflects the ongoing instability and cross- currents that dominate the Arab world. As usual, the Western world and the United States were surprised and overwhelmed by the event and completely impotent in attempting to influence this outcome. The mindset of the West, proven over and over...
תשעת הימים שלפני האבל על נפילת ירושלים וחורבן בית המקדש הגיעו. השבת הזאת, שתמיד מקדימה את תשעה באב עצמו, נקראת על שם ההפטרה מהנביא ישעיהו שאנחנו קוראים בבית הכנסת. הנביא מגנה את תחלואי החברה של תקופתו, החברה שבה הוא חי:...
The nine days of mourning for Jerusalem’s fall and the destruction of the Temples are upon us. This Shabat, which always precedes Tisha B’Av itself, takes its name from the haftorah of the prophet Yeshayahu read in the synagogue. The words of the prophet condemn the social ills of his times and society – governmental corruption, economic unfairness and a lack of legal and social justice....
The fourth book of the Torah – Bamidbar – concludes in this week’s public Torah reading. The new generation of Jews, no longer the slave generation that left Egypt hastily and constantly longed to return there when faced with problems and difficulties, stands poised to enter the Land of Israel and fulfill God’s covenant with Avraham. However here again, narrow personal interests becloud...
There was a time not that long ago when those entering the field of the clergy did so in response to what they felt was a calling. This meant that there was somehow a Heavenly instinct within them that called them to the service of their faith and its adherents. This idea was promulgated and publicized especially after the Reformation changed the face of religion in Europe in the non-Jewish...
הספר הרביעי בתורה, ספר במדבר, מסתיים בקריאת התורה של השבוע הזה. הדור החדש של בני ישראל, כבר לא דור העבדים שיצא ממצרים בחיפזון וכל הזמן השתוקק לחזור לשם כשנתקל בבעיות ובקשיים, עומד מוכן להיכנס לארץ-ישראל ולקיים את הברית...
פעם, לא מזמן, אנשים שבחרו לעסוק בכמורה עשו זאת מפני שהם הרגישו שזה הייעוד שלהם. זאת אומרת שהיתה להם מין תחושה משמים שקראה להם לשרת את הדת שלהם ואת מאמיניה. הרעיון הזה הופץ והתפרסם בעיקר אחרי שהרפורמציה שינתה את פני הדת...
One of my most beloved grandchildren (all of my grandchildren are most beloved but…) wrote to me last week and in the letter made a wonderful comparison between the frustrations of being a loyal baseball fan – almost a rabid supporter – of a bad and losing baseball team and reading and listening to the news reported from Israel about the quarrels, divisions and scandals that currently...
The Lord promises Pinchas that most valuable and yet the constantly elusive gift – the blessings of the covenant of peace. The world has known very little peace over the long millennia of human existence. Strife and conflict, war and violence, have been the staples of human existence from time immemorial. Many historians and social scientists maintain that war and violence are the natural and...
It is a well-known and almost instinctive response to attack the messenger when one feels that the message being delivered is incorrect, unwanted or unfair. The poor messenger usually finds one’s self in a hapless and hopeless predicament. It then becomes a contest of personalities and not of ideas, a shouting match instead of a reasoned debate. A seasoned American political leader once...
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