Mom, who was raised in Buffalo in a family of Orthodox emigrants from Eastern Europe but strayed from strict observance when she left home, and became more traditional as she aged, religiously commemorated Thanksgiving. Her parents, unfamiliar…
Category: Other
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Thankful memories: Turkey Days spent with my mother
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Living in a rough hood
Let’s assume that most of us – on any side of the border – mostly want to live in peace and security. Let’s assume many of us, understanding that we live in a rough neighborhood, whether we’re Jews in New York or Palestinians in the…
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Israel Won’t Wait to Be Destroyed
When the World Hesitates, Israel Does Not For decades, Israel has lived at the intersection of two conflicting global realities: a world that debates, delays, and dithers and a nation that does not have that luxury. When threats rise, Israel does…
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The Spiritual Forces behind Giving Advice
Giving advice to friends feels simple. Someone shares a problem, we want to help. But the moment we step into the role of guide or advisor, we are pulled into a quiet struggle between giving, restraint, and discernment. Most of the damage we…
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A Story of Two Inner Paths
Parashah Toldot – A Story of Two Inner Paths Connection with the previous parashah (Chayei Sarah) Chayei Sarah closed with Avraham’s house ordered: Sarah buried in Machpelah, the land anchored through a conscious kinyan, Rivkah entering her…
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Abraham Stands. Joseph Keeps Standing
I love the story of Joseph because it teaches great truth that applies to daily life. If Abraham is the moment someone stands, Joseph is what it looks like to keep standing when the ground keeps shifting. Before Pharaoh ever dreams anything,…
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Jacob’s Wells, And The “Philistines” Who Try To Plug Them
One of Isaac’s primary occupations, we learn in parshas Toldos, was excavation. He dug wells. The parsha tells us of several of the wells – Esek, Sitnah, Rechovos – that Isaac and his servants dug and then redug. On the simple level, Isaac was…
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Istanbul’s Near-Deal Boosts Hamas for Round Five
The rush to “rebuild Gaza” while Hamas stays armed, funded, and diplomatically courted is not peacemaking — it is state-sponsored insanity and geopolitical malpractice wrapped in moral cowardice. And Tuesday’s near-meeting in Istanbul…
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Where Missiles Fall, Science Sprouts: The Story of a Promising Discovery
At a time when the “12-day war” between Iran and Israel last June dominated the headlines, something remarkable happened in Rehovot: amidst the wreckage of a laboratory destroyed by an Iranian ballistic missile, a group of scientists…
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Decency instead of Descent
Since October of 2023, executives, principals, coaches – the adults in the room – have often been incapable of confronting wrongs. Instead of punishing the vandal’s swastika, they’ve commonly opted to wish-it-away or to just move-on….
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