Bilaam is one of the more despicable characters in the Torah. Even before he unsuccessfully attempts to curse the Israelite nation, he lies to Balak’s messengers and goes against the wishes of the G-d to Whom he has expressed his devotion, when he agrees to go with Balak’s messengers. more

Years ago, about to exit the doors of LaGuardia Airport after a long flight, I suddenly realized I had forgotten my tefillin on the plane. I rushed back to the gates only to discover I could not get through without a valid boarding pass, which I no longer had. more

I prefer to stay behind the news, but recent overheated rhetoric and unthinking actions in Israel, I fear, can have far-reaching, historic repercussions. more

There is joy in Mudville this week, with two home runs at bat. Triumph over adversity, and the victory of good over evil, are recurring themes in the secular culture as well as in Judaism; we’re especially delighted when they play out close to home. more

While the economy has slightly dampened the craze to show off our “designer children,” that yearning still lingers just beneath the surface. Here’s an example from my own life. My wife and I used to schlep our six-year-old Eli to hipster Williamsburg for Suzuki violin lessons, where the (childless) teacher treated her students like prisoners of war. more

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants — Albert Camus America is slowly moving toward abandoning those rights endowed to us by our Creator and protected by the United States Constitution. more

Last week I shared a burger recipe, this week I have another. Last week it was a main, this week it’s a dessert. Sweets date back to ancient civilizations. Desserts, as we know them today, are the product an evolution of technology and culinary experimentation. more

In 1946, according to legend, a young polish boy digging through the rubble of the Warsaw ghetto found a tube with a manuscript inside. The African American soldier he sold it to for a dollar, recognized it as something Jewish and brought it to the chaplain of the U.S. 8th Army, Rabbi Herschel Schachter, ob”m. Rabbi Schachter quickly realized this was the manuscript of the holy Piaseczner Rebbe, Rav Klonymus Kalman Shapiro H”YD. more

Our bags are packed, we’re ready to go. Some of us to Eretz Yisrael; others to the Carribean, Europe, the Far East, even the Jersey Shore. There will be “staycations” in the Five Towns (nothing wrong with that!) or Long Beach, the Hamptons, the North Shore. Depending on our disposition, we might enjoy a few days in the Big Apple, where there’s far more than a vacation week’s worth of things to see and do. more

When you think of venues of Yiddishkeit, how far up the list would you place the Australian Outback? It’s unlikely to have made my list — until now. We received another reminder last week of how the incredible unity of the Jewish people can rise anywhere, surviving even the harshest conditions in the most remote regions. It came to us courtesy of a levaya (funeral) in a distant Australian town that hasn’t seen many Jews since its gold rush in the 19th century, if then. more