“And G-d said to Moshe, ‘Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and say to them, they should not become ‘tameh’ to people of the nation.’” (Vayikra 23:1) The opening instruction in our parsha is for the kohanim to learn that they must follow a strict behavior, in which under ordinary circumstances they can only become “tameh” to a dead body if the deceased is one of seven close relatives. more

With last week’s Torah reading encompassing a summary of the essence of the Ten Commandments and with Lag Ba’omer this coming Sunday, we are each day becoming ever more mindful of the oncoming of the festival of Shavuot, the holiday commemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. This week’s essay is themed to this event that defines the core of our faith and very existence. more

Last week’s horrible bombing at the Boston Marathon brought out the best of people and the worst of people. Bostonians were incredible the way they helped the injured, cooperated with the police and united in spirit. The police, FBI and law enforcement were amazing the way they tracked down the two terrorists in just a few days. more

William Faulkner was a master of writing single sentences that span an entire page. Though they run on and on, the sentences could not be marked as “run-on” by a grammar teacher. It is a unique skill possessed by the loquacious, which marvels readers. The longest sentence I am aware of in the Torah has 34 words in it (Shmot 32:1). more

Our underlined phrase, “you shall judge your fellow with righteousness,” is found in the second of the two parshiot we read this Shabbat. As noted in Talmud Bavli, Shevuot 30a, one of the interpretations of this expression is the obligation to judge our fellow Jews in a favorable fashion: “Our Rabbis taught: ‘You shall judge your fellow with righteousness’ - judge your neighbor to the side of merit (Hevay dan et chaverchah l’kaf zechut).” more

Comments by two friends of mine concerning the link between the recently deceased former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and the Jewish people prompts this week’s review; this time, a review of essays, not of books. more

Dear Friends: This is an open letter which concludes with a notice of cancellation of Sunday’s event at the Great Neck Synagogue. The synagogue, and particularly Rabbi Polakoff, merit a debt from American Jewry for an instinctive understanding of the need to awaken us all to a gathering storm. In the end, the pressure from left-wing Jews, deliberate media ignorance, “shtetl” mentality which informs that a problem goes away if you ignore / do not discuss it; and the resulting enormous cost burden for security and the fear engendered in our school kids’ parents - was simply too great a cost for the synagogue to bear. more

News of the approaching Gosnell trial began to appear on conservative websites in January, but as the gruesome proceedings entered its fourth week, much of the liberal media was ignoring the proceedings. more

President Obama has constantly urged Israel to take risks for peace with its Arab neighbors. Despite the murderous rhetoric coming from the entire PA, from Abbas on down; despite never-ending murderous rock and rocket attacks by PA Arabs against Israeli civilians; despite repeated public refusals to recognize Israel’s right to live as a Jewish State of any size, with any borders, President Obama has repeatedly urged Israel to continuously take more risks for peace. more

The primary topic of our double parsha focuses on the affliction of tzaraat, its diagnosis and prognosis. The attention is primarily on the kohen, who is given detailed instructions for how to detect what is or is not tzaraat. He is also given tremendous autonomy in deciding whether the mark he is examining is tzaraat. Interestingly, there is no mashgiach monitoring to see that what the kohen declares is “correct.” He makes the call. more