This posting – which is a sequel to my last – begins with a video. An unusual way to begin, I know. But this is an unusual posting, and the video, which is seven minutes long, is quite extraordinary. I want to thank long-time reader from Toronto, Leon K., for …

It is Chanukah and for eight nights we will light our lights, one more each night. Ideally we light them in a window or out in a public place. Credit: iStockPhoto/Fevzi Ryman Why?  To broadcast the miracles.  According to our traditions, there were two: The Talmud relates the story of …

I have been sending out some very heavy material, sending it because it is important to let my readers know what’s going on, straight-on, no-frills.  Sometimes there is so much to report that I struggle with what to write about first. Today is no different. I begin with news about …

A sinkhole is often defined as a depression in the ground caused by water. But it has another definition: a place into which foul matter runs. ~~~ In my posting “Devious and Detestable” I wrote about the six Palestinian Authority NGOs that serve as  fronts for the Popular Front for …

The State of Israel had not had a budget since March 2018 – that is, it didn’t until the wee small hours of last Thursday, November 4, when a budget was finally passed. I recognize that Israel badly needed a budget; there were governmental allocations of importance that were held …

The unvarnished truth (and yes, there is such a thing), is a rare commodity in the political realm: Most of the time it is sacrificed to political purposes, or at best obscured. But it does exist. ~~~ MK Bezalel Smotrich (Chair, Religious Zionists) is one member of the Knesset (there …

Very little that unfolds in the public domain is clear and simple. It behoves us to keep our eyes open and dig deep when there are questions. Please read to the end of this posting, for that is where you will find the biggest story, which is just in the …

The situation described below has serious implications in several respects. It is a major story that is finally starting to get badly needed attention. And so, I ask that you share this as broadly as possible.  You assist Israel when you provide solid, factual information that is not well known …

The importance of inner strength is one of my major themes: Now, now especially, when the world has gone bonkers and is sliding leftward, we need to know who we are, understand our rights and stand for them. And yet… ~~~ I recently wrote about the issue of the American …

As we struggle with the tough stuff, it’s essential to retain a broad perspective. And so, the first item I want to present today is what we might call somber good news. Whatever we call it, it is reassuring. Below you will find a link to an article about the …

Dear Friends, Earlier this week, I did a Zoom presentation sponsored by AFSI (Americans for a Safe Israel).  It was called “Sustaining a Strong Israel in Unsettled Times.” I provided an overview of the current Israeli political situation and then focused on a matter that I believe is exceedingly important: …

Sukkot, which ends tomorrow night, has been so lovely.  The sukkah, shared with family and friends, an oasis of peace. The blessing over the lulav, a delight: I grasp the fronds of palm, willow and myrtle, along with the etrog, and shake it in all six directions as reminder that …

Before I begin to address that question, I want to note that tomorrow night begins Sukkot, sometimes known as Z’man Simchateinu – Season of our Rejoicing. We need to hold on to that joy, if we are to have the strength to wade through the difficult stuff – and we …

Whatever circles about us, here we are, in the midst of the High Holiday season. Rosh Hashana just past, Yom Kippur immediately before us. If ever there was a time to ask what it is all about, it is now. We are called upon, first, to look inward.  For if …

Rosh Hashana begins next Monday evening, and it seems unlikely that I will write again before then.  And so, I now wish all a Shana Tova: May it be a sweet year of many blessings!!     ~~~ Prior to his meeting with Biden, Prime Minister Bennett gave an interview …

It is with enormous sadness, but not surprise, that I share news of the death of Bar-el Shmueli, age 21, a Border Police officer who was shot in the head at point blank range, during the course of a riot at the Gaza border on Saturday night, August 21. Shmueli, who …

Along with many of you, I have been watching the unfolding of the situation in Afghanistan with a sense of pain and horror: The shocking, alarming failure of the Biden administration: The abandonment of American citizens and Afghan allies, the emerging terror. But we must not fashion this as an …

And with good reason, I add, “alarmed!”  The situation as it is unfolding in Afghanistan is over the top. Here I hope to touch several bases briefly. As Lawrence Kadish, writing in Gatestone, put it: “The horror of President Joseph Biden’s deliberate retreat from Afghanistan is so immense and its …

Prime Minister Bennett is leaving Israel for Washington DC tomorrow (Tuesday) for a snap 48 hour visit. He is scheduled to meet with Biden on Thursday. Credit: Mishpaha Magazine That meeting is the very bad idea that I am referring to here.  (Not that there are not many others.) Rabbi …

Last I wrote, I titled my posting “Danger: Within and Without.”  I began with dangers that lurk within, which I suggested pose the greatest threat to Israel. Fervently do I wish that the one issue I discussed in that posting – a reluctance of our left-leaning Supreme Court to stand …