by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 28, 2016 | Israel, Vayeishev
During the Yom Kippur War, Golda Meir visited a tank battalion on the Golan Heights. An IDF soldier asked the Prime Minister, “My father was killed in the 1948 war, and we won. My brother lost an arm in the Six Day War, and we won. Last week I lost my best...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 13, 2016 | Antisemitism, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Humility, Israel, Obadiah, Vayishlach
As the situation for European Jewry began to deteriorate, the Chofetz Chaim was asked in 1933 about the fate of the Jewish people. As recorded by one of his close disciples, the revered rabbi answered, “Hitler shall fail! No one has ever succeeded in destroying our...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 6, 2016 | Community, Covenant, Israel, Vayeitzei
In his influential book “The Jewish State”, Theodore Herzl made the case for designing a proper symbol: “We have no flag, and we need one” he wrote. “If we desire to lead many men, we must raise a symbol above their heads. I would suggest a white flag, with seven...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2016 | Devarim, Israel, Joshua, Maps, Masei, Responsibility
A city of refuge in the Torah is a place where someone who murdered unintentionally can seek asylum. God commanded the Israelites to set aside six Levitical cities in the Land of Israel to be cities of refuge. Three of those cities were to be on the west side of the...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 6, 2016 | Community, God, Holiness, Israel, Kedoshim
Throughout Leviticus, God commands Moses to teach the Children of Israel, or to instruct them in various commandments and rules of behavior. With this scripture, God introduces a few laws pertaining to our relationship with God, such as the Shabbat and the prohibition...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 28, 2016 | Acharei Mot, Good and Evil, Israel, Purity
Chapter 18 of Leviticus is seemingly a list of dos and don’ts, not unlike many of the rules of purity and impurity listed throughout Leviticus. But at closer examination, there is something different about the instructions listed here. The chapter begins with...