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MainOpEds  Lech Lecha: Why will YOU make aliya?Noah versus Abraham. And as Angela Epstein wrote in the Daily Mail: If history has taught us Jews anything, it’s knowing when it’s time to pack. Noach is a flawed tzaddikNoach and the Land of Israel. G-d of love, love of G-d32 letters in the Torah have dots above them - and their numerical value appears in two verses. A revelation. Anti-Semitism, terror? Blame the illegal Jewish settlersYour house is ready, perhaps it’s time to think about going back home. Ki Tetsei: Fighting AmalekFighting Amalek and perfecting the world. Shoftim: The land for peace travestyThe laws of warfare talk about enemies, and how to treat them. Holy heresyEverything is for the service of G-d. What about heresy? Fast daysThe Torah-reading for fast-days has a hidden message to help us through hard times. Jerusalem Day: Recognizing the miracleWhat was the single greatest miracle of the entire Six Day War? Warsaw Ghetto uprising or Auschwitz liberation, which day to choose?There are two days to memorialize the Holocaust, representing two fundamentally different world-views. Shabbat Ha-Gadol: Redemption then, redemption nowShabbat Ha-Gadol: Redemption then, redemption now When man restores G-d to His worldWhat exactly is a sacrifice?When man restores G-d to His worldWhat exactly is an offering? Parashat Terumah: A time of joyMoshe’s entire 40-day sojourn atop Mount Sinai had one theme only – building the Mikdash. From Jethro to Jonah to President Donald TrumpSometimes a Jewish prophet, a Jewish national leader, needs to accept some advice, some admonition, from a non-Jewish outsider to learn how to lead the Jewish nation and how to serve G-d. Hanukkah: For the MiraclesThe power of the weak over the mighty. Vayishlach: Becoming IsraelJacob, the man of truth, was forced to deceive and connive. Stand firm - and damn the consequencesJoining up when you see who is winning may be too late. Hoshana Rabba: 70 years since the Nuremberg TrialsThere are no coincidences... The wars of the JewsHow and when to go to war in this week's parsha. From twilight to RedemptionThe potential of the 9th of Av remains. Matot (Israel): Do you know what you are fighting for?The israelite fighters had much in common with their IDF descendants. Pinchas (Israel): Following the daughtersThe daughters of Zelophehad had such a great love for the Land of Israel, they merited that the laws of inheriting land-holdings in the Land of Israel would be written in the Torah at their inspiration. Apologizing to MK ZoabiZoabi hates the state of Israel - and serves in its parliament. The Israel-Turkey agreement elicited a venomous speech from the Arab MK. Shlach (Israel): The beginning of the endPart of the suffering that we as a nation have to undergo in order to inherit and acquire the Land of Israel is to understand and to learn the meaning of freedom and its corollary, responsibility. Nasso (Israel)/Shavuot: Celebrating Israel, celebrating G-dConnecting Jews with G-d, their nation and their land. Bamidbar (Israel): LeadersEven the greatest leader is human, and therefore fallible, Parshat Hachodesh: The blood of RedemptionThis Shabbat we read Parshat Tazria but the Haftorah is the first national mitzva given the Jewish people, that of Hachodesh. They have a spiritual connection. Purim and sacrifices: Why walled cities celebrate the 15th of AdarA historical context for the two days of Purim and the reading of Parashat Tzav. Pekudei: Let the celebrations begin!What greater joy can there be than building the House of G-d? Of calves and covenantsPutting the extent of the sin into perspective. Letter to PM Netanyahu on the continued detention of Meir EttingerEttinger has not been accused of illegal acts. Is there such a thing as an illegal opinion in a democracy? In time of warLook at the Egyptians to see that no matter how seemingly loyal, when it comes to war, a person will side with his original nation and not with Israel. A tale of two staffsWhy two different words for the reptiles that the two staffs were transformed into? When the love-story turns bitter: the Israelites and EgyptIt is the nature of a bush that when someone puts his hand in, he is not injured, because all the thorns point downwards; but when he comes to take his hand out, the thorns catch him and he is unable to take it out. (Midrash) For Shabbat Hanukkah: Miketz and the MaccabeesUnited we stand, divided we fall. Hanukkah: Lighting the path to redemptionHow will we light the Hanukkah lights when Mashiach comes? Read this and be prepared. Parashat Vayeshev: Returning to ShechemWhoever controls Shechem controls a strategic mountain pass. Become who you are!Ishmael tried to be Isaac – even as his descendants today try to usurp Isaac’s inheritance. But there can only be one Isaac, the real one. Follow in the footsteps of AbrahamHe could have done G-d's work in Haran, but he heeded the call. So should we. G-d, Einstein, and How to Make Your Shoe-polish Last ForeverTrue existence – true reality – is measured, and can be measured, solely in terms of Torah. The Sukkah: Nofelet or nofalet?Even a change in a vowel can have a deep meaning in Judaism. Vayeilech: When leaders of Israel die...In memory of a fighter for Eretz Yisrael. Parashat Nitzavim: Choose life!Time to come home. The Place that G-d ChoosesSix stops on the way to Jerusalem. Ki Tetze: Protecting the HomeParashat Ki Tetze is exceptionally rich in mitzvot: it contains 27 positive mitzvot and 47 negative, for a total of 74. They are connected. Re'eh: The Joy of Inheriting the Land of IsraelThe pronouncements of blessings and curses are our very foundation in the Land of Israel. Ekev: To walk before G-d in the Light of LifeThe Land of Israel is bound up with the Jewish People. After Tisha B'Av Comes Shabbat NachamuThe Sabbath of consolation follows the fast of destruction. Parshat Dvarim and the 9th of Av - What's the Connection?Looking forward with hope. 29th of Tammuz, Remembering two Jewish Giants“How are the mighty fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19) Balak and Fast of the 17th of Tammuz:Parashat Balak invariably falls around the 17th of Tammuz; indeed, and this year, Shabbat Parashat Balak falls precisely on the 17th of Tammuz. What is the connection? Gaza Rockets, Eubulides, and the Sorites ParadoxHow many grains constitute “a heap”? And how many rockets are "a few" beyond which there are "many"?Korach: Despair in the DesertThe Israelites in the desert wanted to enter Israel. How will any Jew who decides, in this generation, to remain in exile answer the question: Were you sincere and honest all those dozens of times every day that you prayed to return to Zion? Sinai to Paran to Israel to Babylon to GermanyThere is a deep connection between Paraha and Haftarah. The Ultimate Blessing of PeaceAn ever increasing blessing. |
