Michele Bachmann: The Liberal Elite’s Next ‘Jew’

Posted on: June 22nd, 2011

When Sarah Palin burst upon the national scene and the liberal media attempted to destroy her, I observed on my blog, Seraphic Secret, that she was being transformed into a hated Jew. Each rhetorical bombardment against her was and is reminiscent of the Arab strategy to demonize Jews and Israel.

Iasi, Seventy Years Later: A Stain On History, An Ache In My Heart

Posted on: June 22nd, 2011

My late father was a special man - scholarly, pious, wise.A man whose eyes spoke of understandings unfathomable to me when I was young and whose strength and full impressiveness only come into clearest focus as I myself have gotten older.

Durban And The Apartheid Analogy

Posted on: June 15th, 2011

It is almost ten years since the UN-sponsored World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, inaugurated a new stage in the history of "anti-racist" anti-Semitism.

Orthodox Homosexuals And The Pursuit Of Self-Indulgence

Posted on: June 15th, 2011

Recently, while doing research for a news article I was writing for The Jewish Press, I found myself watching a YouTube clip concerning Jewish homosexuals. About two minutes into the clip, my heart suddenly dropped. There speaking on my computer screen was a young man I had once known as a sweet frum boy. Today - as I discovered from the YouTube video - he is an open homosexual.

How Israel Should Fight Non-Violent Wars

Posted on: June 15th, 2011

A massive fly-in of pro-Palestinian activists into Ben Gurion Airport is the most recent anti-Israel provocation to be announced. It is yet another ostensibly non-violent act by some of Israel's enemies for which the Israeli authorities will have to find an adequate answer.

The Mainstreaming Of Chabad Rabbis

Posted on: June 15th, 2011

I have witnessed a revolution. On a recent lecture tour that took me to Australia and South Africa, I hardly found a major mainstream synagogue without a Chabad rabbi. Shuls that once swore they would not invite in Chabad are now attracting large numbers of new members under the helm of young and charismatic Chabad rabbis. Many of them are the biggest shuls in their respective countries.

To Teach, To Learn, To Repent

Posted on: June 7th, 2011

There is an urgency in the two Torah commandments whose obligation is constant and ever-present: to learn Torah and to repent. The Torah is clear about this urgency in the Shema: "These words, which I command you this day, make them as a sign upon your heart and between your eyes "

Shavuos And The Reality Of Redemption

Posted on: June 7th, 2011

Having walked through the Valley of Death, I feel I can understand Shavuos better. My wife and I just returned from Auschwitz and other tragic sites in Poland. We were never there before and I had thought we never would be, but an opportunity arose and we took it. What does this have to do with Shavuos? Everything.

Netanyahu Follows Father’s Path In Amassing Bipartisan Support

Posted on: June 7th, 2011

The enthusiastic response Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received when he addressed Congress on May 24 came from both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans both took part in the numerous standing ovations.

Hasbara In The Rubble

Posted on: June 7th, 2011

Berachah - blessing - says the Gemara, is found only in things that remain unwatched and out of sight. Hasbara - the way Israel explains itself to the world - might be in better shape taking a cue from that Gemara.

When Religious Doctrine Undercuts Mandated Reporting On Abuse

Posted on: June 1st, 2011

The New York Times got it right. In an editorial published on Thursday May 19, the Times castigated the Vatican for issuing "flimsy guidelines" for combating the sexual abuse of children by the clerical hierarchy.

The Hidden Side Of The Ten Commandments

Posted on: June 1st, 2011

On Shavuot we celebrate God giving us the Torah, represented by the Ten Commandments. We will explore them here through a broad lens, showing how they apply to our daily lives. We will focus on the First Commandment, the foundation, and the seven commandments phrased in the negative, which tell us what not to do, discussing both sides: the negative (avoiding what God hates) and the hidden side, the positive (doing what He loves).

Time For Obama To Change Course

Posted on: June 1st, 2011

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally left the U.S. after a week of exhausting, and surprising, diplomatic highs and lows, a number of unsettling questions were left in his wake.

Obama’s Jackie Mason Moment

Posted on: May 25th, 2011

President Obama's speech at AIPAC straddled the line of a Jackie Masonstandup routine. It turns out that when the president said last Thursday that Israel should return to its '67 borders, it wasn't exactly what he meant. Who said I was referring to 1967? I meant 1867. I didn't mean CE, I meant BCE. And why did you assume I was talking about Israel's border? I was talking about French Guyana's borders.

Enabling Mahmoud Abbas’s Lies: An Open Letter To The New York Times Public Editor

Posted on: May 25th, 2011

Dear Mr. Brisbane, Your newspaper recently published an op-ed written by Mahmoud Abbas, the unelected president of the Palestinian Authority.

In The Netherlands, Animals Are Winning, Jews Are Losing

Posted on: May 25th, 2011

Animals are advancing in the Netherlands and Jews are regressing. There are many examples of this. A large building project was halted recently because it was the habitat of a protected owl. However, the habitat of the head of the Dutch Rabbinical Seminary, Rabbi Raf Evers - easily recognizable as a Jew by his clothing - is not protected. Due to aggressive behavior the rabbi has encountered - mainly from Muslims - he no longer uses public transportation and ventures out of his home as infrequently as possible.

What The President Got Wrong

Posted on: May 25th, 2011

When President Obama spoke last week of the opportunities presented by the Arab Spring, he got a lot right. His calling out of the Arab states was long overdue and dead on. But he got some big things wrong.

The Struggle: Obama, Abbas And Netanyahu

Posted on: May 25th, 2011

It is a compelling story: a thirteen-year-old boy, whose family was forced from home as wartime refugees, still yearning more than six decades later to return.

How Exactly Is The PA Preferable To Hamas?

Posted on: May 18th, 2011

In reaction to the Palestinian Authority-Hamas unity deal signed in Cairo, Israel decided to turn off the spigot. It halted the transfer to the PA of over $100 million in customs and tax revenues.

A Warning To America

Posted on: May 18th, 2011

I wish I could take you all on a visit to my country and show you what Europe has become. It has changed beyond recognition as a result of mass immigration. And not just any mass immigration, but mass immigration driven by Islam.