Thursday April 14, 2022 – י״ג נִיסָן תשפ״ב How can we use this moment to come together around a shared destiny, a common mission to shape our future as rooted in our own freedom and in achieving freedom for others?   What does it mean to be “Free”? The Pesach story is centered around freedom. […]

Friday April 8, 2022 – ז׳ נִיסָן תשפ״ב When you tell the story of your family to your children, or even to guests coming to your home, where do you begin? We Jews choose this moment to tell our story – the story at the heart of the Haggadah – the Jewish people’s exodus from […]

Friday April 1, 2022 – כ״ט אַדָר ב׳ תשפ״ב This has been a terrible week and a very challenging month of March. Three brutal terrorist attacks in a span of 7 days have claimed the lives of 11 people. Aside from Operation Shomer Homot in May 2021, this string of terror has been the worst […]

Friday March 25, 2022 – כ״ב אַדָר ב׳ תשפ״ב The first time that we were named as “Jews” was in the Purim story. Mordecai was known as “היהודי” (HaYehudi), literally, one from Judea, or more commonly referred to as “the Jew.” At the end of the Megillah we hear what the Jews did, and that […]

By Professor Michael Chernick Yosef Kibita, a 32 year-old man who is a member of a Jewish community, is little known to American Jews. He is an Abayudaya, a Ugandan Jew. His community was founded over a hundred years ago and originally observed a Judaism based solely on the Bible. Its first knowledge of generally […]

 Friday, March 18, 2022 – ט״ו אַדָר ב׳ תשפ״ב כִּֽי־גָד֤וֹל מׇרְדֳּכַי֙ בְּבֵ֣ית הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְשׇׁמְע֖וֹ הוֹלֵ֣ךְ בְּכׇל־הַמְּדִינ֑וֹת כִּֽי־הָאִ֥ישׁ מׇרְדֳּכַ֖י הוֹלֵ֥ךְ וְגָדֽוֹל׃ (אסתר ט:ד) “For Mordecai was now powerful in the royal palace, and his fame was spreading through all the provinces; the man Mordecai was growing ever more powerful.” (Esther 9:4)   A child sits down […]

Thursday, March 10, 2022 – ז׳ אַדָר ב׳ תשפ״ב זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם :אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּב בְּךָ כָּל-הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִים אַחֲרֶיךָ וְאַתָּה עָיֵף וְיָגֵעַ וְלֹא יָרֵא אֱלֹהִים: ( דברים כ״ה:י״ז-י״ח) “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you […]

It has been a whirlwind week in Israel. This week we met with Israel’s Prime Minister for the first time in 6 years, and with Israel’s Interior Minister – the first time in 12 years!  Since this ‘change government’ blew the winds of change into the Knesset, we’ve had the opportunity to work together, meet […]

Thursday March 3, 2022 – א’ באדר ב’ תשפ”ב הַחֹדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר נֶהְפַּךְ לָהֶם מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה” (מגילת אסתר ט:כ”ב)” “…The same days on which the Jews enjoyed relief from their foes and the same month which had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy.” (Esther 9:22) Greetings from […]

What are the first associations that come to your mind when you hear about Israel? Most probably, you think about political issues such as the Occupation or Western Wall. Thinking about Bezalel, the hero of this week’s Torah portion suggests that politics is only part of the Israel story and that Israel Education in North […]