There is a tremendous amount of banter and barter in the portion of Chayei Sarah. From the haggling between Abraham and Ephron and the Hittites, to procure a burial plot for Sarah, his wife, or the extensive interchange between Eliezer and Betuel…
Category: Other
-
Post Code…Red
-
Book review – Talmudic Philosophies
Mark Twain supposedly said, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Whoever said it made the insightful point that rambling is easy, but clarity and conciseness demand real effort and thought. Twain apologized for not having…
Continue Reading
-
Ancestral Land (Chayei Sarah)
“Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life.” – Joseph Conrad Our Matriarch Sarah dies, and Abraham spends a…
Continue Reading
-
Will Edom Fall Into The Hands Of Paras, Or Paras Into The Hands Of Edom?
The prophets did not know “Iran” as we name it today. They spoke of Elam, of Paras (Persia), and of great empires that rise like mountains and fall like dust. But the land is the same mountain ring, the same plateau, the same rivers; the…
Continue Reading
-
Are We Abraham’s Children?
What does a person who has everything want? This week’s parashah is transitional. Its two major stories involve the passing of the mantle from one generation to another. Sarah dies, and Avraham buys land for her burial. As he ages, he turns his…
Continue Reading
-
The Arsenal of Linguistic Warfare
The Language War Wars have never been fought only on the battlefield. They are fought in language — in definitions, metaphors, and the moral associations attached to words. Israel’s story, more than any other, has been rewritten through…
Continue Reading
-
Aliya – the secret parenting hack
We didn’t move for purely idealistic reasons, to be honest. There were several practical considerations in the decision. We were moving to a different branch of the company we worked for. This branch happened to be in Israel. We could not have…
Continue Reading
-
Israeli settler terrorism and American indifference
In the West Bank’s no-man’s-land, the olive harvest season for Palestinian farmers also marks the peak of Israeli settler violence. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, October was the most violent month in…
Continue Reading
-
Hamas is in a pickle — and the world shines
The last living hostages were released. (Four dead hostages are still not released.) Hadar Goldin’s body (which had been in Gaza for over a decade) was released. Two hundred Hamas fighters are trapped in tunnels. (Israel has reportedly agreed…
Continue Reading
-
FAU Registers Kanaani Cats: A Quiet Miracle Linking New York, Kyiv, and Jerusalem
Sometimes the journey of a rare animal is more than a set of documents or formal procedures. Sometimes it is a warm thread that connects countries, destinies, and people who care. This is what happened today with the Kanaani, the only cat breed…
Continue Reading