Anti-Judaism was always driven by two, agents, religion, and politics. And so it is today. Nowadays it stems mainly from the unholy and contradictory alliance between Islamism and the Marxist depiction of Jews as wealthy oppressors. It was the same story in England with different actors long ago. The Jews were expelled from England by Edward the 1st in 1290 as a…
Palmyra Tadmor
Many years ago, in Israel, I and my family, stayed at a rather drab Government Hotel in Herzliya called The Tadmor! It has now been taken over by a commercial company and spruced up. But the name remains and what a significant historical one it is. Palmyra or Tadmor is an ancient city, now in the center of modern Syria, that dates back thousands…
Modern Education
Education has been a core value in Judaism from the very start. Several times every day, those of us who pray, repeat the obligation to teach our children. We are people of the study hall, if not the book. The Talmud has quite a lot to say about education and Maimonides, a thousand years ago, has chapters on the subject! From class…
Time for Jews to get out of South Africa?
Why is South Africa leading the outpouring of hatred towards Israel? Is the writing on the wall? Is it because of endemic anti-Semitism? Or is there something more to this than meets the eye? In one way it is nothing new. You may recall the scandalous World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance that took place in Durban, South Africa…
Eulogy for a Friend
Mordell Klein (1943-2024) was my oldest friend! A brilliant, charismatic, multi-faceted man of many talents and contradictions. He was born into a remarkable family. His father was an outstanding Talmid Chacham and Rosh Yeshivah, his mother was a bright, forceful woman with a strong personality. His were siblings brilliant each in a different way. The death of his father at an unseemly early…
Shabbat Beshalach
Exodus 13:17-18 Ancient events modern lessons. When Moshe led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, they headed due east. But after a few days of travel, they turned south. Initially, the Torah tells us they turned away from the quick coastal route for fear of encountering the Amalekites before they would have had time to train militarily and to…