Category: Other

Christophe Lebold’s lyrical biography of the Canadian singer and literary figure, Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw The Angels Fall (ECW Press), is definitive in its comprehensiveness. The author, a professor of literature at the University of…

37 — Totafos and the Tongues of the World

Our Gemara on Amud Beis offers a scriptural source for the four compartments in the tefillin that rest on the head. The Torah uses the word “Totafos,” an unusual term, perhaps translated as a…

He died on Monday night during the Festival and his righteous wife/widow gave strict orders that it be…

I feel like I need to issue an apology to Simchat Torah. After three chagim filled with lots of shul, setting tables, and cooking it makes sense that a lot of Jews feel burnt out by the time Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret rolls around. I…

I was invited to the Memorial Ceremony yesterday at Kfar Azza, one of the hardest hit kibbutzim, on the national day of mourning for victims of the Hamas massacres on October 7^th.

It was shocking to see an entire section of a cemetery in…

Last night, I found out Miriam is no longer with us. I also found out my beloved cousin Melissa, who I am extremely close with, passed away from Glioblastoma. And then Bayla, my best friend (read: sister), sent me a picture of her baby boy…

Every year, as we begin the Torah anew with Bereishit—the opening portion of Genesis—we revisit the story of creation, human beginnings, and the first recorded conflict in history. It’s a story not just about disobedience, but about…

This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 19 days to the election.

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By envisioning how current events will play out we can free ourselves from the trajectory Israel has been forced into over the past three years

My family was in Jerusalem when we all received confirmation the living hostages were to be…

Recently, I’ve entered into moments of despair. Despair that Hamas has simply won the war, and we might as well give up.

One moment was with a family member. He told me he has a lot of Arab friends. And he knows they would kill him if they…