Even though I live freely in America, I understand the need for a country that provides the Jewish people with a safe haven, and more important still, the ability to defend itself. Having grown up attending Jewish day schools and Zionist summer camps, together with listening to my grandparents speak of surviving the Holocaust, gave me a strong Jewish identity...
As Israel begins its 65th year of modern-day independence, there can be no disputing that this nation remains confronted with a myriad of challenges and threats to its very existence. But despite the perceived pall of fear and tension that seem to hang eternally over Israel, I can confidently say, as someone who has been blessed to contribute to its...
Gunshots pierced a still, sunny morning at Dachau concentration camp. My husband and I cringed. It took a moment to remember that the Bavarian riot police have an active training facility on a portion of the property that once housed SS guards. I suppose it's economical to make use of the land. Nevertheless, the jarring sound rang like an offensive...
For more than 2,500 years, these fast days have remained on the Jewish religious calendar, and the Book of Lamentations continues to be read on Tisha B'Av. This is as it should be. Even though it is a far more recent horror, the Holocaust was no less a national Jewish catastrophe than the destruction of the first and second Temples...
On the second night of Passover, observant Jews began a practice known as S'firat Ha-Omer, counting the barley sheaf, a ritual counting of each of the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. For many Jews, S'firat Ha-Omer is obscure, even irrelevant. This is a shame, for it speaks to an important value, one that our society needs now when issues...
Sivan 10, 5773
