The Source of the Wave
The wave of unrest, dubbed Arab Spring, that spread across the Middle East n the spring of 2011 is commonly traced to Mohamed Bouazizi, a poor Tunisian street vendor, who set himself on fire in December, 2010, to protest police harassment. Mohamed’s desperate suicide sparked outrage …
A Generous Text
This week’s Parsha continues the theme from the previous Parsha in describing our ancestor’s enthusiasm for building the Mishkan (tabernacle) and their exacting commitment to its great detail. After transmitting G-d’s detailed instructions for building the Mishkan the Torah could have simply concluded with the words “Vayasu Ken,” …
In Love
A young man was set up on a “shidduch” date. After the first date he told his mother that he was impressed with the young lady’s character, but not with the shape of her nose. After several further dates the young man fell in love. When his mother asked …
Geed hanasheh is the sciatic nerve, a sinew in the hip that Jews are forbidden to eat. Many know that kosher meat must be slaughtered and salted. Not many know about neekur, the intricate process that entails the removal of the animal’s forbidden parts, including the geed hanasheh. In fact, …
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 …
