Daniel Pinner

From Rephidim to Colleyville:- why do they hate us?

As we were reading of Amalek’s attack on the Jews at Rephidim, another Jew-hater attacked Congregation Beth Israel. There is a message here.

Tu B'Shvat: Viewing the trees

The principle behind Hillel and Shammai’s dispute as to whether the New Year for Trees is on the 1st of Shvat(Shammai) or the 15th(Hillel).

The Tenth of Tevet: Why do we fast?

The final sentence could have been delayed, or even averted altogether, if only the nation had repented.

VAYECHI 5728

A preview of Mashiach

The blessing for the Tribe of Dan, the unifying tribe, has all the prerequisites for the Redemption.

"What do you see?"

The question “What do you see?” occurs only seven times throughout the Tanakh, and is addressed to only three men, all of them prophets.

The Jews and the Greeks

A miniscule point of Hebrew grammar, so esoteric that few people ever notice it or are even aware of it, teaches us a central lesson.

VAYESHEV and HANNUKAH

Return to Shechem: Joseph's brothers, the Maccabees, and the IDF

Shechem controls the most crucial junction in northern Israel. Joseph's brothers, Judah Maccabee and the IDF knew and acted accordingly.

If Yaakov had been American...

Had he been an American Jew, how would Yaakov have reacted to hearing that Esau is on his way with 400 men?

Making dreams come true

Jacob's dream came true when he, near the Holy Land, saw the angels of the Land of Israel. That is the power of coming to live in Israel.

CHAYEI SARAH 5782

Towards the downfall of the savage

The Torah tells us of Ishmael's propensity for bloodshed: "his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him.” Will it ever end?

The beginning of Jewish history

Abraham’s nation will be either like the stars shining in the darkness or else like the sand, down-trodden, and kicked aside by everyone.

Noah, a raven, a dove, and the Democrats

Have Jews really found resting-places for the soles of their feet?

From the beginning till the end of time

The opening word of the Torah “in the beginning” already encoded all of what was to come, the potential of everything which will ever be.

Hoshanah Rabbah 5782 (2021):75 years since the Nuremberg Trials

The sentences were carried out on the 21st of Tishrei, Hoshanah Rabbah – the day the judgment of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is sealed.

The Prelude to Rosh Hashannah

We are all נִצָּבִים, standing erect, steady and unmovable, each of us in our own position of authority, over ourselves or also over others.

Anti-Semitism? – Blame those illegal Jewish settlers

Parashat Ki Tavo tells us just what defines an 'illegal settler' - providing food for thought.

Those weapons brandished against us...

Defeating blood libels and the lie that we are colonizers in our land - depends on our choice of 'blessing or curse' in Re'eh and Isaiah.

A primer: Blessings over food, after food, and prayers

Every time a Jew eats, the blessings he recites both before and after infuse him with the centrality of the Land of Israel.

9th of Av survival kit

The writer's ideas for getting into physical shape for fasting, starting today. Hopefully, our spiritual shape will make the fast obsolete.

Temporary or permanent? Subverting the Redemption

Such is Torah: One dot missing in a word in Mattot-Masei and Rashi's explanation lead to a vast lesson brought with exquisite subtlety.

Heard the one about the donkey who laughed at the prophet?

Parashat Balak is indisputably the most hilarious parashah in the entire Torah.

Please meet the ten spies

There are modern day equivalents of the ten spies badmouthing Israel and claiming it should not be in Jewish hands.

When each tribe brought the same offering

Each of the Tribes was unique, and even though each brought the identical offering, each one’s offering was unique.

Shavuot 5781 (2021):- Celebrate in spite of it all

Just four days after the Six Day War was over, Jews celebrated Shavuot at the newly-liberated Western Wall. We must continue to celebrate.

'In the eyes of the nations He has revealed His righteousness'

Jerusalem Day is intrinsically connected with the promise in this past Shabbat Torah reading ending the Book of Leviticus.

Emor: Between Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim

This week's Torah and Haftarah are a most fitting riposte to Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, and an equally fitting introduction to Yom Herut Yerushalayim.

“No Jew will be left behind, no tears will be left to be cried”

When we come back home at the end of the Edomite exile, it will be forever. And our exiles are alluded to in yesterday's Torah reading.

Seventh day of Pesach: Which group are you part of?

Would you have chosen to be part of the Redemption from Egypt? A majority did not.

Israel''s election results: Guide to the perplexed

The demise of the Meretz party

Unmourned by most voters, Shulamit Aloni's leftist non-Zionist party with roots in pro-Stalin Mapam may have committed suicide. Op-ed.

Vayikra: A new Book, a new month, a new year, a new era

Israel’s redemption is a combination of G-d’s decision and our actions - in the Exodus, the Mishkan, redemption from Babylon and today.

Shabbat Ha-Chodesh: Introducing the Jewish calendar

Pesach, the Festival celebrating our freedom, calibrates the Holidays. And Ba'al ha-Turim's calculations find a tikkun in Eretz Yisrael.

Shabbat Parah and Ki Tissa: While Purim is still echoing...

This Shabbat is the confluence of three components of our calendar: the aftermath of Purim, Parashat Ki Tissa, and Shabbat Parah.

Shabbat Zachor: Perverted compassion - Amalek and Eichmann

Amalek’s attack was hatred for hatred's sake, cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Pity for bloodthirsty murderers is the ultimate cruelty.

An additional parashah

Jethro well deserved a parashah being named for him, not just for his advice but for what his behavior exemplified.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

It is impossible, at this stage of history, to determine how long the gates of redemption remain open. But open they still undoubtedly are.

Exile and desecration, redemption and sanctification

Two special Jews died this week, one world famous and the other known only to his friends, but the world is poorer for it.

The most comfortable exile ever - what could possibly go wrong?

Is it prescient that the Torah readings during this stormy period in the USA are about the change in Egypt's attitude towards the Jews?

Kingship in Israel

Jacob’s blessings may pertain not to the end of days, but to events throughout Jewish history, such as King David and Judah Maccabee.

The connection between Parashat Vayigash and the 10th of Tevet

Exile, like the pull of Hell, sucks the Jew into its dread grasp – and it becomes ever-harder to leave.

Hanukkah song 'Raise the flag!' defied the Nazis

A Hanukkah song written in 1935, set to "See the conquering hero comes" is a defiant contra to the Nazi party's Horst Wessel anthem. Op-ed.

Vayishlach: As the final confrontation begins

Jacob tells Esau they will meet again on Mount Seir, but he does not go there during his lifetime. So what does he mean?

Parashat Vayetze: Preparing for exile

Jews who eschew Torah, swiftly break any faith with the Land of Israel; and Jews who eschew the Land, swiftly break faith with the Torah.

Whose 'ancestral homeland'?

Abraham’s tests are our reassurance and proofs. Erekat's claims of an 'ancestral homeland' are as false as those Abraham faced.

As long as he remains in the room, no war is likely to begin

Autocrats prefer the polished, clear diplomatic and political rules which protect them, but Trump thinks out of the box and it works. Op-ed.

From the Ark to America

The Midrash sees the Flood as an allusion to Israel’s exile, and Noah’s leaving the Ark, as an allusion to Israel’s return to its Land.

Simchat Torah: Celebrating a Torah of fire and water

Moses will die in exile, but he cannot leave his people without blessing them, and he does so poetically, evoking Sinai and Jewish history.

Is this holiday seven, eight or nine days long?

Understanding the source of the difference in holiday observance in the Diaspora and Israel.

Yom Kippur: Genesis of Repentance

The night that changed the world forever is the night Jewish history began. Six parts of Yom Kippur to read and internalize.

The final Shabbat of the year: Hastening the Redemption

A profound Midrashic insight based on Isaiah's words in this week's Haftara, the last of the 'Seven of Consolation' on the Return to Zion.

Haftorahs of consolation: “Sing and be joyful O barren woman”

For people who don’t like the way the Redemption has been playing out over the last few generations, here is a suggestion: Read the Rambam.

Aesop in the Middle East: The father, the son and the donkey

f you try to please all, then you will please none and especially not yourself. Op-ed.

Meat, milk, and Aliyah: Parashat Re'eh

How long do we have to wait from meat to milk? And how long are we allowed to wait to make aliya?

For Shabbat Nachamu: After the 9th of Av - A magnificent tragedy

The destruction of the 9th of Av was not the end. It was but the beginning of the night, awaiting the new dawn of redemption.

Lessons for Israel from Srebrenica, a quarter century on, Pt.2

The USA led NATO in a campaign to defend Bosnian Muslims. What was the result? 9/11 two-and-a-half years later. Why? Op-ed.

Lessons for Israel from Srebrenica, a quarter of a century on

What lessons can Israel derive from that horrific episode, called 'ethnic cleansing' by the Serbs but considered genocide by world powers?

Our generation is, in its own way, that of the Book of Numbers

Numbers separates the slave-generation which left Egypt from the free desert-generation. Which generation are we?

The 'Three Weeks' and the Parasha

Parashat Pinchas invariably falls during the Three Weeks of mourning for our lost Land and destroyed Holy Temple.

Antisemitic Judensau relief preserved, Columbus statue toppled

Remembering German FM Walter Rathenau, killed on June 24, 1922, and called "Judensau" in chants. The Judensau reliefs are protected by law.

The whole Torah

One little word betrayed the spies' motives in Parashat Shlach (Israel), and one letter shows the place of Eretz Yisrael in Judaism.