NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 21: For the fifth day, pro-Palestinian students occupy a central lawn on the Columbia University campus, on April 21, 2024 in New York City. Earlier in the week over 100 students were arrested by the police and suspended by the university for demonstrating against the war in Gaza and demanding the University divest from Israel. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Hamas College Takeovers

April 25, 2024 – 11:53 pm | Comments Off30 views

Over the past week, we have seen anti-Israel college takeovers with protestors openly declaring their desire to kill Jews and to render Israel—from the river to the sea—Juden Rein. The brazen tactics and bullying have left many Jewish students and faculty members afraid to venture onto campus. As we approach …

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Articles tagged with: reason

Vaera: Just Stop Asking

January 7, 2013 – 3:17 am | Comments Off3,074 views

My Shoes Hurt My Head
Herbert Weiner, author of Nine and a Half Mystics, enjoyed warm relations with many Chassidic Jews. Herbert reportedly asked a Chassid, why it is that despite their mutual Jewish base he feels that the Chassid walks through doors that he simply cannot. As I understood it, …

Lech Lecha: Trickle Down Religion-omics

October 21, 2012 – 2:08 am | Comments Off4,490 views

Top Down or Middle Out
A debate rages across the United States about the best way to jump start an economy. Some believe in the top down solution; offer tax relief to job creators so they can pump more money into the economy. Others believe in the Middle Out solution; increase …

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Naso: Give Your Fellow A Lift

Lift is an interesting word. In America, you give someone a lift, when you drive them to their destination. In England, it refers to an elevator. The British meaning makes more sense. A lift should lift you vertically; not transport you horizontally.
The concept of vertical lift is the subject of …

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Yearly Cycle »

High Holilday Greetings 5777

New Year Greeting 5777
As I prepare for my sixteenth Rosh Hashanah in London, Ontario, my mind turns to an event that occurred shortly after we arrived.
Congregation Beth Tefilah organized an installation ceremony in my honor and Joel Wittstein of blessed memory was in attendance. I feel fortunate and honored to …

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Concepts »

Takking a Stand On Mumbai

Good and Evil
Rebecca, the matriarch, was pregnant with twins. The prophet informed her that the twins she was carrying represented two paradigms: good and evil. The two would vie for supremacy. At times evil would prevail and at times righteousness would prevail, but in the end, goodness shall triumph.
The battle …

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Rabbi’s Desk »

What Can We Do?

These past two days have been the most difficult for our people in the last fifty years. It was Simchat Torah, a time for rejoicing, yet it was a time of horror. Nearly a thousand members of our family were brutally murdered, more than a hundred were taken hostage, and …

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