Daniel Pinner

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.

Explaining the corona virus

Why do bad things happen to good people?

When WWII ended there was no armistice, there was surrender

May 8, 1945 is the day that Nazi Germany recognized its defeat and had to agree to total surrender. And that brought peace. Opinion.

Did you notice which Haftarah was read today?

Unusually, the haftarah of the first of the two parshiyot of the week was read instead of that of the second

Yom Haatzma'ut: The dawn of redemption

History is full of events which in retrospect, with the benefit of historical hindsight, fit in with G-d’s design for Israel’s redemption

Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah Roundup

A Happy and Sweet Year

Ki Teitse: Remember, Forget, and Remember

The Land of Israel: What's at Stake?

Shabbat Hazon: In Our Hands, In Our Hearts

Hukkat: The Pivot of History

Telling of Freedom

Purim: Why Pretend?

Fast of Esther: Prelude to Purim and Redemption

G-d and Israel Reaching for Each Other

Appointing a King

Eicha! (Lamentations)

Shlach: Spies and Ties

Behar (Israel): The 19 Year Gap and the Redemption

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, Atonement and Israel

The Story of Shabbat Hagadol

Who Set a Precedent for Bombing a Nuclear Reactor?

A Tale of Two Assads: Lion and Cub

End of Egypt, End of Pharaoh

Va'era: Knowing Hashem

Shemot: And Thus Begin All Exiles

The Dreamer Leads - Follow in his Footsteps

Vayetze: Unified Around the Tzaddik

Toldot: Free Will

The Banality of Good

Abraham Passes the Tests

Entering the Era of Torah

Sukkot:Building the Eternal Sukkah of Peace

Remember Pollard on the New Year

Of Covenants and Consolation

When You Go Out to War...

Shabbat Hazon and Parshat Dvarim

The Color Wheel of Politics

Mattot: Fighting Together for the Land of Israel

Whose Naksa is This Anyway?

Join a Pollard Pesach Initiative

Shabbat Parah and Parshat Shmini

Purim: Connecting Redemptions