At Camp, In Ukraine … (Not) Striving for “Normal” I am in Ukraine, in a village where there was once a great Hassidic community that was entirely destroyed during World War I. One hundred sixty-fix Jewish children are coming here for a summer camp, children who are fleeing from all over Ukraine for two weeks […]
August 5, 2025 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS TO CONSIDER – STORIES MAKING NEWS The Forgotten Hostages: Global Demands Target Israel, Not Their Captors The war between Israel and Hamas has moved far beyond combat on the ground. A dangerous ideological front is now blazing – affecting global perception, political alliances and public […]
We Are The Indigenous People … We are now approaching the end of “the three weeks” during which we refrain from joy in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The mourning reaches its climax on Tisha B’av itself, when we read the book of Eikhah and Kinnot (Elegies) while seated on the […]
July 29, 2025 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS TO CONSIDER – STORIES MAKING NEWS Feeding Gaza and Fighting the Hamas Propaganda Machine Humanitarian Aid: The Complex and Tragic Toll of the Hamas War Civilians in Gaza are suffering – caught in the middle of a brutal war – with hundreds of thousands displaced, […]
A Compelling Call … “Your brothers will go to war, and you will sit here?” ~ Numbers 32:6 Moses cries out to those who wish to settle on the far side of the Jordan River. This cry is not a rhetorical question – it is a compelling call to future generations. Moses presents a stark […]
July 22, 2025 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS TO CONSIDER – STORIES MAKING NEWS No Place to Heal: The Crisis Facing Jewish Patients and Professionals A surge in discrimination, exclusion and hostility is being reported by Jewish patients, doctors and medical students in therapy sessions, hospitals and university programs. Some patients are even […]
The Three Weeks: Extremism in Israeli society Pinchas ben Elazar confronts us with a profound question about extremism in Israeli society today. His zealous act saved the people from divine wrath and even earned him a covenant of peace — it seems the Torah wants us to learn from him. Yet today we know that […]
July 15, 2025 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS TO CONSIDER – STORIES MAKING NEWS Erasing American Jews: Excluded, Shunned and Marginalized Exclusion of Jews is no longer confined to fringe protests or campus encampments – it now reaches America’s most powerful civic institutions. There are escalating threats to Jewish inclusion and identity – […]
“Lo, a people that rises like a lion, leaps up like the king of beasts.” (Num. 23:24) Commenting on the verse that provided the official name (Operation Rising Lion) for the recent war with Iran, which appears in this week’s Torah portion, Rashi offers two explanations. By way of midrash, he states “When they rise […]
July 8, 2025 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS TO CONSIDER – STORIES MAKING NEWS Diplomacy and Danger: Hostages, Hate and Hypocrisy As Israel’s prime minister visits the White House, Jews across America and around the world continue to face physical attacks and cultural exclusion. President Trump is optimistic that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and […]