Last Sunday, we observed Tisha B’Av, which mourns the loss of our Temple, caused, our sages say, through our internal ‘Sinat Chinam’ -baseless hatred. I’ve read and heard many wise people declare that the antidote we must strive for is the opposite, ‘Ahavat Chinam’ - a kind of br…
The images and stories coming out of Gaza these past two weeks have been awful. There’s no maneuvering around the situation that has emerged. Military victory has been all but achieved. There are no more significant military targets other than the hostages, and approaching them at this poi…
Many of us will have seen the news this past week of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath and godfather of the Heavy Metal genre in pop music. Osbourne was known for his outlandish and controversial stage presence, which included an incident with a bat (I shall say no m…
“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!”
“I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.”
Like many of you, I’ve been a fan of Mandy Patinkin for a very long time. Of course, the famous q…
Several months ago, (January 31, 2025) I wrote here explaining in great detail the false, pernicious, even diabolical narrative that Israel is perpetrating a genocide in Gaza. It was apparent to me then, and has only become clearer to me now, that those who platform the modern version of the…
Today we celebrate the 249th anniversary of the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Several months ago I was in Philadelphia and took a tour of Independence Hall. One thing that struck me was the combination of reverence for the place and access for everyone that charact…
Early on in the post 10/7 conflict, I began to listen to podcasts featuring Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur. Gur had a very incisive approach to his analysis. It wasn’t ideological, it was extremely well informed, and it was clear eyed about the challenges faced by Israeli society, by …
A few minutes ago early this morning, my daughter returned home to Toronto.
In Israel on a seminar with educators and group leaders when the war with Iran began, like millions of others she spent most of a week in and out of a bomb shelter. She and her group were evacuated through Ashdod to…
For the second time in two weeks, I find myself compelled to write a new message hours before we publish our newsletter. Circumstances give me no other choice. It reminds me of November 1989, when my Modern European History course in my 2nd year at the University of Toronto had to be reworke…
It had been my intention to write this week about our friends and allies in Rockland’s LGBTQ+ community. As Pride month celebrations continue, let us not only passively recall but also actively assert that the identity and the rights that our community believes are being eroded - by the h…
It’s a byword these days, among us. Resilience is how we describe the way in which our people are continuing to weather this unrelenting storm we find ourselves in. We turn on the TV or social media, and see yet another protest, another violent attack, another scrawled swastika or vandaliz…
It was a burning hot summer, 34 years ago in Jerusalem. I had been backpacking for a month in Scotland and England, and had just got to Israel a few days earlier. The ninth of Av that year was on Shabbat, so the day-long fast commemorating the destruction of the Temple in 68 CE was pushed of…
The image is fixed. Seared in my mind, in my memory, forever. The lioness, Shiri Bibas HY’D, holding her boys in her arms, the fear and determination written on her face. The pictures and videos of her family life that we all saw in the aftermath tell a story of love, happiness, laughter a…
When we sing the song ‘Eshet Chayil’ as we welcome in the Sabbath, we recite the verses describing a woman secure in her role, proud of her vast accomplishments, appreciated for her wisdom, courage, and goodness. Today, I’d like to share the stories of three women of valor who share al…
I was looking for some notes from an almost-forgotten report I had written many years ago, and found myself searching through some very old emails from a little-used hotmail account several days ago.
I came across an old story I had saved back in 2003 - which I am not sure I ever used - tha…
