It is almost upon us now: Joe Biden’s inauguration day. Whatever the grief, the incredible frustration, the conviction that this should not be happening, as far as I can tell, it will be happening. Which means the beginning of the “reset.” There is a great deal that terrifies. Biden will …

Perhaps I should title this “An UnAmerican Tragedy,” for this is what it really is. Had someone described to me, just months ago, what is going on now in the US, I would have scoffed and said it was unreal, impossible.  But it is possible: we are seeing it unfold …

It is no less than a tragedy: We are watching a once great nation unravel. ~~~ But this unraveling didn’t start last week or last month. And it would be altogether too facile to account for this it by focusing solely on what transpired last Wednesday, with the horrendous breaching …

If ever one of my postings needed to be shared very widely, this is it!  Please follow this to the end. Sometimes it is difficult to see the truth, especially when the situation is vastly complex – and even more so when, additionally, a bias, a fiction, has been engendered …

Yup, it can. This is the first posting of the year 2021, and it will focus on good news. There hasn’t been much of late.  But I rejoice that there actually seem to be a number of upbeat items worthy of attention.  Let’s set a positive tone while that is …

So we’re into election campaign mode. This does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that matters will now go smoothly: We’ve got a long and winding road ahead of us before election day. One factor seems reasonably certain: this election will play out for the most part on …

There is no room for niceties.  We must tell it as it is. It has been a while since I have had to write about a terrorist murder, but this fact makes it no easier. Esther Horgan, 52, was a mother of six and a grandmother; her youngest child had …

What causes us to grieve is the horrendous state of affairs in America. Should Biden end up becoming president (something that I absolutely do not consider a “done deal” at this point), there would be no reason to be reassured as to the direction he would take.  The more we …

Tonight we kindle the first light of Chanukah.  And it strikes me that this year the messages and themes of the holiday are especially important: It is hardly an easy time. Not here in Israel, and certainly not in the US.  We struggle with corona and the concommitant economic difficulties. …

The situation has been rather crazy here in Israel, with a government that doesn’t function like one. I need to look at this shortly.  However, when I consider what’s going on here, my response (which will not surprise regular readers) is that it is “small potatoes” compared to what’s happening …

The US, first. Then Israel and a good part of the world — not just the West, but also Sunni Arab. What I am referring to are the policies and practices that would emanate from a Biden administration, should he ‒ and this is where we cry “Heaven help us” …

Most of you are probably familiar with the phrase, spoken by someone who feels neglected or left out, “What am I, chopped liver?” Well, broadly I apply this sentiment now to Israel, which has taken a back seat in the focus of my last few postings. (Apply it with a …

Editor’s note.  Please share this important article. “Justice, justice shall you pursue!” (tzedek, tzedek tirdof) the Torah tells us in the book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) 16:20. But justice is in painfully short supply in the US these days. For anyone who cares about justice, this is cause for immeasurable sadness. …

I wish to begin by paying a heartfelt tribute to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who died of cancer last Saturday at the age of 72. Former chief rabbi in the U.K., Rabbi Sacks was a brilliant thinker and a moral teacher.  During the lonely days of the lockdown, I was …

Writing after the US election, I believe it’s necessary to look backward in order to understand what is going on now. Many of us – who care deeply about the soul of America – have been watching and grieving over the weakening of the fabric of America for some time …

The US election is less than a week away, and, as I track the news, I have a growing conviction that Donald Trump will be in the White House for four more years.  As Caroline Glick tweeted: “Spit three times, then say, ‘No evil eye, things look hopeful, things look …

In spite of the title of this posting being potentially ominous in tone, I begin with a brief good news item: It rained on Tuesday here in Jerusalem, and only in Jerusalem. The rainfall ‒ accompanied by thunder and exceedingly heavy for a brief time ‒ was a real surprise. …

When last I wrote about the painful electoral situation in the US, I said I would return to news about Israel very soon. And so, here I am. But as I began to consider the focus for this posting, a familiar sense of sadness came over me: There is so …

I am eager to return to a focus on Israel.  In fact, I keep telling myself that that is what I’m going to do. I know there are readers waiting for this.  But…while I will do it very soon, I find I cannot do it yet: What is happening in the …

It was a mess. It was terrible. That is, the presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden, which took place in Cleveland on September 29. I am not here to argue that it was anything but. ~~ HOWEVER, this does not give anyone the right to distort …