Posted on: November 17th, 2011

The Irgun is famous; Lehi – the other Jewish underground that fought the British in the 1940s – less so. With only 1,000 fighters, as opposed to the Irgun’s 5,000, Lehi is sometimes thought of as the Irgun’s “kid brother.”

Posted on: November 16th, 2011

I wasn’t sure if I should write something about the petira of Rebbetzin Kanievsky, z"tl. My first reaction was who am I to write about such a great person? How could I possibly describe who she was? She was so great that mere words cannot do her justice.

Posted on: November 14th, 2011

Cousin Leo Schreiber was the son of my grandfather's brother David. He came from a family of Rabbinic giants of Europe; the Europe that does not exist anymore. His family was loving and righteous and they were destroyed by Hitler, yimach shemo. But Leo survived.

Posted on: November 12th, 2011

Aside from being the first Orthodox Jewish layman to head the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (1982-1984), Rabbi Berman is also well known for the close relationship he shared with Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (popularly called “the Rav”), who ordained him in 1959.

Posted on: November 2nd, 2011

Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, a son-in-law and student of the legendary Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik – rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University for 45 years – is one of Modern Orthodoxy’s most prominent and respected personalities.

Posted on: October 26th, 2011

Laughter really is the best medicine. Caroline Glick, deputy managing editor of the Jerusalem Post and senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, has found humor and satire to be valuable tools in making the case for a strong Israel. Her latest venture to that end is Latma, the Hebrew-language media satire website Glick created and edits.

Posted on: August 10th, 2011

WASHINGTON - Call Joe Lieberman the unlikely evangelist. The Independent senator from Connecticut - and the best-known Orthodox Jew in American politics - is probably more cognizant than most of his Jewish congressional colleagues about rabbinical interdictions against encouraging non-Jews to mimic Jewish ritual.

Posted on: May 25th, 2011

Rabbi Dr. Aaron Levine, z"l, passed away on the first day of Pesach, one day before his 65th birthday. He was an erudite scholar who had received semicha from the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Theological Seminary and a PhD in economics from New York University. He was equally at home in the world of Torah and in the secular world, and thus a unique combination of Torah and chochmah, something that is increasingly rare today. Furthermore, this intellectual prowess was clothed in a mantel of extreme humility.

Posted on: February 23rd, 2011

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar is an Israeli scholar of Arabic language and culture who served for 25 years in IDF military intelligence. He holds a Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University, where he is currently a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

Veteran pro-Israel activist Herbert Zweibon, founder and chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI, passed away in New York on Jan. 20 at age 84.

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

As an IDF reserve colonel and a chozer b'teshuvah who studied for many years in yeshivot in Jerusalem, Geva Rapp finds himself in a unique position to relate to so many of today's generation in Israel who are searching for their Jewish heritage. Recognizing the dangers that the lack of basic Jewish knowledge among Israelis poses to the Jewish character of Israel, Rapp founded Panim el Panim in 2005 in an attempt to infuse Jewish values into Israeli daily life, particularly among Israeli youth.

Posted on: December 22nd, 2010

JERUSALEM - Not so long ago, few Israelis had heard of Rabbi Chaim Amsellem, a soft-spoken Shas backbencher in the Knesset.

Posted on: December 15th, 2010

Widely recognized as an expert on Mideast politics and U.S.-Israel relations, Ambassador Yoram Ettinger advocates for Israel on both sides of the Atlantic, advising members of the Israeli Cabinet and Knesset and regularly briefing American legislators.

Posted on: December 8th, 2010

Irving Bunim (1901-1980) is probably best known among Orthodox Jews for his best-selling, three-volume Ethics From Sinaicommentary on Pirkei Avos.

Posted on: November 24th, 2010

Reuven Poupko wears many hats, aside from a fur-clad shtreimel. A rabbi, lawyer and psychologist, the Baltimore native also served as chief rabbi of Curacao from 1998-2001, and has taught in colleges, rabbinical seminaries and day schools. But this Thanksgiving, Poupko is going to swap his bekeshe for an apron as he takes his wife and children to the streets of downtown Baltimore to share a Thanksgiving dinner with some of the city's most downtrodden residents.

Posted on: November 17th, 2010

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz is best known for his legal prowess, but he is also the author of two dozen nonfiction works and three novels, the latest of which is The Trials of Zion. Set in Israel, the book's plot tells the story of three lawyers who defend an alleged Arab terrorist while simultaneously trying to discover who set off a bomb that killed the American president and Israeli and Palestinian leaders at a peace-signing ceremony in Jerusalem.

Posted on: November 10th, 2010

Political intrigue. Backroom discussions. Revealing portraits. These and more fill the pages of a new memoir by Ambassador Yehuda Avner, The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership (Toby Press). Hailed as the "ultimate insider's account," this 731-page book reveals hitherto unknown stories based on recollections and notes Avner took while working for four different Israeli prime ministers.

Posted on: November 3rd, 2010

In September I wrote in my Baseball Insider column (which appears the second week of each month in The Jewish Press) of my very positive reaction to an advanced screening of the new documentary "Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story."

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

Shomrim, volunteer citizen patrols, established in Jewish communities to handle quality-of-life issues, have been in existence for many years and are credited by local police forces for their key role in reducing crime. Not only are there active Shomrim patrols in Brooklyn's religiously concentrated neighborhoods of Boro Park, Flatbush, Williamsburg and Crown Heights, but also thriving patrols in the Jewish communities of Baltimore, Northwest London and more. While these patrols are designed to monitor suspicious activity and report any potentially dangerous activity to the police, the recent shooting of four Boro Park Shomrim members in September is a chilling reminder of the inherent danger these dedicated volunteers face on a daily basis.

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

All last week, Rabbi Yehuda Levin's name appeared in the news as the man behind gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's widely-reported remarks opposing gay marriage and homosexuality. After a maelstrom of criticism, Paladino apologized to the gay and lesbian community, prompting Rabbi Levin to sever his ties with the Republican candidate.