How Attuned Are You to the Three Components of Spirituality?
LA JOLLA, California — How often have you heard people say that someone is spiritual? I always wonder what they mean exactly; when asked, no one has ever given me a satisfactory explanation. Current...
Why Ken Burns is Wrong on FDR and the Holocaust
The latest film from Ken Burns, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” has aroused controversy with its claim that President Franklin D. Roosevelt did his best to help save Jews from the Nazis. As Donald...
Parashat Ha’azinu: Personal Accountability and Responsibility
SAN DIEGO — How’s your hearing lately? Are you listening?
Ha’azinu is one of the seven songs in Tanakh and is one of the shortest parshiot in the Torah with just 52 verses, filled with a treasure of information and striking imagery....
Babi Yar: Erev Yom Kippur September 1941
On September 29-30, 1941, the eve of Yom Kippur, the Germans murdered 33,771 Jewish men, women and children in Babi Yar, almost four miles from the center of Kiev, the capital of the Soviet...
Why Are You In Such A Hurry?
I really don’t think it’s my imagination. Ever since restrictions from Covid have opened up and people are out and about more, the bulk of them seem to be trying to perpetually outpace everyone...
Bringing to Life, Through the Arts, the Victims of the Holocaust
SAN DIEGO — We Are the Tree of Life (WATTOL) founder and director, Jackie Gmach, is adept at recognizing talent and recruiting them to participate in her initiative. In Israeli-born dancer and circus performer,...
The Syrian-Born Jew Who Built a Banking Empire
KFAR SABA, Israel — I received a pre-publication copy for review of A Banker’s Journey: How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire, by Daniel Gross, from the publisher’s representative. It’s a fascinating look...
We are Jews because we are Zionists, we are Zionists because we are Jews
In the defining spirit of our times that promotes diversity and inclusion by encouraging individuals to self-identify, to celebrate their will to determine their identity—whether driven by gender, race or religion—what has transpired at UC Berkeley...
Prioritizing Russian Crimes In Ukraine: Aggression Versus Human Rights
International law requires all states in world politics to oppose crimes of aggression and crimes against human rights. Among other things, these coinciding requirements are “peremptory,” meaning that authoritative expectations of world community action...
Before Signing on the Dotted Line…
JERUSALEM — Over 10 years ago, I wanted to make an offer to buy a house in New Jersey and the agent told me to submit my offer in the form of a signed contract....