Who is wise? One who learns from everybody. Who is strong? A person who subdues their bad-inclination. Who is rich? One who is content with their lot. Who is honored? A person who honors others (Pirke Avot 4:1). What do you notice about these…
Category: Other
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Dignity’s Way
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Protect Your Surroundings
In Pirkei Avot it is written that we are to distance ourselves from a bad neighbor, and we must befriend an evil person. Yakov Avinu diplomatically insisted on separating from Eisav. He understood that being in close proximity to his evil…
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Netherlands’ Eurovision Boycott is a Continuation of their Old Crimes
The Netherlands’ decision to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest because of Israel’s participation is presented as an act of high moral principle. In truth, it reflects something much older and far more troubling: a persistent European…
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Nuremberg Revisited
What my OH calls my ‘Holocaust obsession’ led me to initiate our attendance at a screening of the film ‘Nuremberg,’ about the trial of leading Nazi criminals in 1946. The city of Nuremberg was chosen by the Allies as the site of the trial…
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Eric Adams issues executive order barring BDS, throwing down gauntlet for successor Zohran Mamdani
New York City Mayor Eric Adams threw down a gauntlet for his successor on Wednesday, issuing an executive order barring city officials from taking action against Israel or entities associated with it.
Now, if Zohran…
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Ideology over Children at Plan Canada
When Advocacy Becomes Ideology: My Concerns With Plan Canada’s One-Sided Framework: Fact-Free Bias on Gender Issues & Israel For years, I believed in Plan Canada’s mission. I assumed the organization was grounded in child-centered…
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Dinah and women’s lost voice
There is a figure in the book of Genesis who appears suddenly, painfully, and then slips away into silence. A daughter. A sister. A young woman whose story is told mostly through what men do around her, and almost never through what she wants,…
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The White House effect: Jewish climate scientists clashed, but led the debate
This new documentary film about the political moment when the Republican candidate for president in 1988, George Bush Sr., promises to do something about global warming begins with the blistering heatwave of 1988. The directors, Bonni Cohen,…
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‘Weapons of Violence Are Their Trade’ — Expel Violent Settlers Now
This week we encounter the horrifying story of Shechem, the first genocide committed by human beings in the Torah. Jacob is “whole” when he arrives with his family and retinue at the city of Shechem and buys a site where he can encamp for a…
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Israel Philharmonic in Prague
Recently, I was fortunate to hear the Israel Philharmonic play in Prague. I had a planned trip to Prague, and a few days before leaving, I had found out fortuitously that the ensemble would be performing a concert in the city as part of their…
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