With the counting of Sefirah just about to end, the festival of Shavuot commemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai can not be too far behind. In fact the observance of this briefest of holidays is the exact culmination of the Sefirah count and the climax of the historic link between Pesach, the Exodus, and Shavuot and the giving of the Torah. more

Palestinian Arabs have concentrated many of their terrorist attacks on Jews in Jerusalem, hoping to win the city by an onslaught of terror, who seek to make life in the City of Peace unbearable. But this is not a new tactic. Arab strategy to turn Jerusalem into a battleground began in 1920. more

Yom Yerushalayim celebrates that wonderful day during the Six-Day War when the IDF liberated the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount was returned to the Jewish people There is another story about the unification of Jerusalem that most don’t talk about. But it’s important to remember on Yom Yerushalayim that if it were not for the progressive hubris of the man considered to be the hero of Jerusalem’s liberation, Moshe Dayan, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount would not be the issue it is today. more

The Torah gives three examples of “Your brother becoming impoverished.” (V’khi yamukh achikha). The first has to do with selling family property, and how it returns to the original owners at the Jubilee year. The second and third examples deal with a case where he cannot sustain himself and is relying on community assistance (25:35-38), or even needs to be sold into slavery to support himself (25:39-42), respectively. more

One of the thornier, daily halachic problems is that of which bracha (blessing) to recite on a particular food. Not too surprisingly, a vast literature has been created by our poskim (halachic decisors) that contains a plethora of opinions and approaches regarding every questionable item. more

Ir David, the City of David, the name of the area beyond the southern edge of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, is fast becoming one of the most visited historic sites in Jerusalem, thus warranting discussion this week upon the annual observance of Yom Yerushalayim. Ir David is the original hill top upon which was established the ancient unified capital of the Jewish nation by King David over 3000 years ago. more

Before a day begins, there are many unknowns about what will take place. There are usually general ideas about what will happen, but some of the details about the specifics of the day are a bit vague. Last Monday, April 15, 2013, began as a nice and normal day. I do not think that anybody would have predicted what would have occurred. more

Thank G-d for Senator Harry Reid and Congressman Hank Johnson. Everybody knows that the sequester is the worst thing to happen to this country since My Mother The Car was cancelled by NBC in 1966, but there are horrible things about the sequester the federal government is hiding from the people. more

Recently I came across an out of print copy of “Karl Marx and the Radical Critique of Judaism” [Littman Library, 1978] by Prof. Dr. Julius Carlebach, himself a victim of National Socialism and whose parents Rabbi Yosef Zvi Carlebach and Charlotte Carlebach were murdered at their hands. This book closely examines Marx’s absolute hatred of the Jewish people and religion, and goes into great detail in explaining the various methods employed by Marx to justify his bigotry in terms of class warfare and economic philosophy. more

This Monday I will be flying to England to embark on a transatlantic inaugural cruise on NCL’s Breakaway, their newest ship, that will be following the path of the Titanic. Of course we got a great deal and we are being flown to England at no additional charge. Our flight probably won’t be as interesting as the last time my husband Jerry flew to Europe. more