Tag: Torah Portion
Dual loyalty?
How long have we been the “wandering Jews?” I imagine ever since Abraham, the very first Jew. His travels and travails are recounted in the Bible for all to see and our sages taught...
What’s in our Jewish DNA?
I once heard a particular story from a colleague in Johannesburg, who, like me, grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He said that his grandfather was once the victim of an attempted mugging on Shabbat....
Looking for longevity
Sarah Cohen, age 91, was having some health issues and went to see her doctor.
“What should I tell you, Mrs Cohen?” said the doctor. “I can’t make you any younger.”
“Doctor,” said Sarah, “I don’t...
The long road to blessings
“Behold, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing that you will listen to the commandments of God, … and the curse if you do not.” These are the opening...
On Jewish immortality
The Jewish people are a rare anomaly. The very fact that we exist cannot be a mere quirk in the history of nations. There must be something spiritual, indeed supernatural, about the Jewish people....
Faith under fire
It’s one of the most frequently asked questions in every serious school of thought. It is a classic that rabbis, philosophers and ethicists alike have grappled with over the centuries. There isn’t even a yeshivah...
From strength to strength!
There have been a variety of inquiries and investigations into the reasons that Israel was so shockingly vulnerable to the unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israel Defense Forces, Shin...
God in a box
Martha Goldberg was a middle-aged Jewish woman from the Bronx, N.Y., on her visit to the Far East. After the long trip from New York, she was exhausted but insisted on continuing her journey...
Hollywood hype
The Academy Awards ceremony—with all its traditional Hollywood hype and international attention—is set to take place in Los Angeles on March 2. The Oscars represent the best talent the big screen has to offer,...
Destiny in disaster?
Have you ever met a professor of comparative religion? I’ve often wondered whether these academics have really studied all religions and if they believe in any of them.
In this week’s Torah reading, Yitro, we are...