The opera Aida was composed by Giuseppe Verdi and first performed in 1871. The story is about a mythical Egyptian Kingdom in which the Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian Princess after defeating her father’s armies. She is in love with the Egyptian military commander Radames who loves her in return. But Aida’s mistress, Amneris, Pharaoh’s daughter is also in love with Radames. And the…
A Just War
A two-volume work has just been published. Milhemet Mitzvah: Editors Aviad Hacohen, Yitzchak Avi Roness and Menachem Butler. The volumes are: Milhemet Mitzvah, Vol. 1: Halakhic Foundations, Religious Authority, and Military Service in Israel’s War of Independence; and Milhemet Mitzvah, Vol. 2: Religious Leadership and Halakhic Responsibility in the Military Service Debate. Edited by Aviad Hacohen, Yitzchak Avi Roness and the indefatigable Menachem Butler who serves…
Schlissel Challahs.
Happy Chag Ha’Atsmaut even if for some it is already over. There was much to celebrate. And now or something different! Something I never heard about it as a child, neither in my yeshivas nor in Yerushalayim, and not for most of my life. But now it is all the rage everywhere. The Schlissel Challah! How do you explain this? On the…
Who’s Side?
There’s no question that the challenges we Jews are facing at this moment , internally and externally, are enormous and scary. On the face of it this is because of the war that followed October the 7th and has led to thousands of tragic casualties on both sides. But in practice, it has merely taken the lid off so much…
Fanatics
I have the pleasure of lecturing weekly on the Bible. We are now in the first Book of Shmuel (Samuel) which marks an important watershed in the evolution of Israelite political life. In many ways the issues we face today are not dissimilar to those times. There is a TV show called ” The House of David” now showing on…
The Spectator
I have always tried to hear different points of view and take other opinions seriously and respectfully. My innocence has been seriously challenged by the amount of dishonest biased distortions that newspapers and journals I once respected, have fallen prey to dishonesty. Never having regarded myself temperamentally as a right winger, the loss of any objectivity, the blatant ones-sided, dishonest…