Almost 400 years ago, in 1629, one of my ancestors, Rabbi Yom Tov Lippman Heller (also known as the Tosefot Yom Tov, after his well known commentary on the Mishnah) was arrested in Vienna, where he had become the Jewish community’s Chief Rabbi in 1625.
Rabbi Yom Tov was one of the preemin…
The name, for many of us, evokes the embodiment of evil attack, unwarranted persecution, and unprovoked violence that our Torah commands us to remember and never forget. It is our anti-talisman, that which we hold up to remind ourselves that our existence has historically and in the present …
This week, I was asked to try to disentangle the confusing web of news, speculation, disinformation, and strategic implications of what has been happening in Israel and the region for the last few weeks.
No problem. Easy Peasy.
Seriously, though, so much scrutiny has been placed on the mai…
This week, my cousin shared a short video with me. In it, a young woman in Israel, whose husband is a unit commander in Gaza, shared a thought about how we can find space for positive thoughts in an environment where we are surrounded by sadness, anger or despair.
Her simple idea was - crea…
I was participating in a Rockland Business Association zoom call earlier this week, discussing ways to convey a business’s or organization’s story to the consumers or supporters they encounter, on this call specifically discussing podcasts. Stay tuned, we’re working on it.
One key ta…
I strive to bring messages that are positive or uplifting to this newsletter. I can’t always paint a rosy picture. But I can resort to the ancient Jewish saying ‘Af Al Pi Chen’ - ‘Even in spite of this’. This week’s message demands that we raise our heads in defiance and stare ba…
A few weeks ago, as it was raining, I went to a neighbor’s small minyan in their home on Shabbat. I was delighted to see that among those attending was Hillel Neuer. I’d been on conference panels with Hillel in the past, and we’d done some work with University students. We’d exchange…
Like many of you, I watched intently this morning as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague announced its decisions on a preliminary injunction in South Africa’s heinous ‘Genocide’ case against Israel. I was struck by several things that happened and one that did not.
F…
Yesterday, little redheaded Kfir Bibas turned 1 year old. 3 months of his life (a life we hope and pray has not been cut short) will have been spent in Hamas’ terror cages. This little one has been celebrated across the world, from the stages of Davos, to the streets of New York and Tel Av…
One hundred and twenty five years ago, the French writer Emile Zola penned ‘J’Accuse’, a damning indictment of French society and its institutions, decrying the false accusations, framing, antisemitic hounding, conviction, imprisonment, and defamation of Colonel Alfred Dreyfus of the F…
Years ago, I recall reading one of the late Tom Clancy’s thrillers, Red Storm Rising. Being the military history and geopolitics nerd I was (and still am) I paid particular attention to the ins and outs of political intrigue at the Politburo level in the (then still extant) Soviet Union. I…
While this week has often been a time to read ‘Best of 2023’ lists, and discuss Time’s person of the year, it has been a different kind of accounting we’ve done, and an unspoken apprehension of what 2024 will bring.
There are few Jews alive who have experienced anything like this. …
When I was a child, I lived in Toronto. At this time of year, as we counted down the days until winter break, our playgrounds were full of snow, and the line where the pavement ended was piled with mountains of hard packed snow and ice - a winter wonderland of forts and slides, hard climbs a…
Early this morning, I received word that the IDF had recovered the body of Ron Sherman z’l who had been murdered by Hamas in captivity after being taken on October 7th. And last weekend, we heard that Eden Zacharia had been found, also killed after October 7th.
Now, I’ve followed as clo…
Two days ago, I watched with horrified fascination as the presidents of three of the most ‘illustrious’ academic institutions in the country told the world that calling for and inciting the genocide of the Jewish people would only possibly breach their codes of conduct ‘depending on th…
