Two encounters in Germany reveal how fragile the foundation of understanding remains — and how entrenched the blindness to Jewish reality still is. The disappointment is not new. But it sharpens. Two recent conversations — one with a…
Category: Other
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Inside the Tunnel of Dialogue
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Chayei Sarah: Sarah’s Eternal Glow
Sarah, our great Matriarch, dies. Her legacy is one for every one of us to carry along. First of all, we must address her beauty. She was taken by Pharaoh and Avimelech, meaning she was praised to be worthy for kings. So too must we…
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Protests aside, Greece is in a different place on ties with Israel
After a history as one of the Jewish state's fiercest European critics, Greece has become one of its closest allies worldwide
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Can the Syrian leader be trusted?
‘Paranoids have enemies too’ There are many conflicting aspects. Trust People can change, repent. In principle, terrorists can become democrats. Making Syria a true democracy, striving for what the population needs and peace, would propel the…
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Post Code…Red
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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