A heteronym in the Torah appears in three contexts which have too many parallels to be ignored. The prophetess Miriam (M-R-Y-M) appears on the scene to sing about the splitting of the sea, … more

The dynamics of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Congressional visit is more complicated than the U.S. and Israeli media have made it out to be. It is more than just one more breach in the … more

This coming Wednesday, Feb. 4, we celebrate Tu B’Shvat, the beginning of spring on the Jewish calendar. The very thought of spring, especially given recent climatic events, is a bit of a … more

There are many accounts in the midrash about the purpose of the plagues. While the overwhelming approach is that the plagues were meant to be “measure for measure punishment against the … more

The sport of rapelling (or sneppling, as it is known in Israel), is the art of  descending from a cliff by sliding down a rope which is sunken into the mountain above with stakes.  … more

You could almost hear the smack across the bow of the Obama administration on Wednesday as Speaker John Boehner invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on … more

Recently, a new book was published with a curious title, “The People In Between,” by Robert Marx of Chicago’s Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. This interesting work, brought to … more

As predictably as birds flying south for the winter, last week’s abominable terrorist attack on the headquarters of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, brought forth the … more

For these things I weep; my eye, yea my eye, sheds tears, for the comforter to restore my soul is removed from me; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.” (Eichah … more

One of the strangest dialogues in the entire Torah occurs in Va’Era, this week’s portion. At the behest of G-d, Moshe shares with the Jewish people that their redemption is at hand. … more