By the time you read this column it will probably be T-minus 2 days to Purim. Are you panicking yet? Have your shaloach manot been packed? Your seudah shopping completed? Your costumes picked out? Back in the day, I don’t remember any panicking. more

Life’s reality as it is reflected in Jewish theology is relative. For some, reality is real; for others, too many others, reality is but a dream. That dream, to that person’s mind, is reflected in a reality of either fantasy or delusion. And, that is sad, a sad reality. more

Rava said, “A person has the obligation ‘libsumei b’puria’ (until he does not know the difference between ‘cursed is Haman’ and ‘blessed is Mordechai’).” – Talmud Megilla 7b more

As we dress in costumes for this weekend’s celebration, it should be noted that one of the stories in the Megillah of Esther is very much about clothing. more

With all of the uncertainty surrounding Israel, the Middle East and Iran, suggesting the true takeaways from this year’s very well attended policy conference that AIPAC hosted in Washington last week may be difficult. AIPAC had to show its 14,000 guests that it was still relevant and necessary for Israel’s future. more

At a time when boycott, divestment and sanctions is seen as a viable threat to Israel, many are asking where the oxygen for the BDS movement is coming from. Many critics point to the New Israel Fund (NIF) as an organization whose financing has been inseparable from the boycott movement. more

Last Wednesday, I left for my annual four-day trip to Washington DC and CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. Listening to the news reports of the conference on the drive home, I wondered if the media went to the same conference I attended. more

There is no end to the commentaries on the Book of Esther, and this year’s pick by me that follows is not the last word. However, Rabbi David Fohrman’s teachings are worth your attention and patronage. more

And so, it was Oscar time again. I really shouldn’t have watched it live, as I had not yet finished my column that was due the next morning. I told myself I would just watch the opening monologue as I love Ellen DeGeneres. All of a sudden, it hit me, I could write about the Oscars, and tie it in with a recipe. more

In his Yizkor sermon on Yom Kippur 1963 (“Body and Soul”), Rabbi Norman Lamm introduced a fascinating idea in the name of Rabbi Moshe Avigdor Amiel. Before Avraham, humans were referred to as basar (literally “humans” or “flesh”) — “Man shall leave his father and mother, and cling to his wife so they may become one basar (human/flesh).” “And all the basar (humans) died [in the flood].” more