Tag: today

The Tel Aviv District Attorney's offices today submitted to the magistrate court an indictment and an arrest order against Shay Cohen and Simon Soriano,...

I recently saw a picture of the first Agudah convention taken almost 100 years ago. There were people in all manner of dress: light suits, dark suits, vests… some had hats, some caps, some just plain Kipot. Many clean shaven, few with peyos… All were there and all were the equivalent of the Charedi world we have today. This was the Agudah of Yesteryear.

How to lighten the load in the case of disaster.

This week I will share some of my own thoughts on the subject.

As a child in the 1970s and ‘80s in the United States, I used to define Zionism in blunt, simple terms. If you wore a white shirt with blue pants on Yom Ha’atzmaut, you were behaving like a Zionist. If you had pictures hanging in your home with Israel themes, such as the famous June 1967 photo of the three soldiers standing by the Western Wall or the one of Begin, Carter and Sadat shaking hands at Camp David, that made you a Zionist.

I read an article today. My emotions went up and down as I read it, ending with the thought that the man in the story was about to embark on a journey of a thousand steps and that somewhere along that journey, his grandparents would smile.

If Moshe were alive today, I’m certain he would prefer living in the Land of Israel rather than living in Brooklyn. What do you think?

In the days of Shmuel Hakatan a terrible drought held the land in its deadly grip. The wheat withered in the field and the grass dried and died. Day after day, the skies remained leaden and no clouds appeared to bring rain and salvation to the parched land.

Montefiore's flour windmill is a landmark in Jerusalem, built in 1857 in the Mishkenot Sha'ananim neighborhood, then in Ottoman-ruled Palestine. Today the windmill serves as...

A renewed outcry for “Temple consciousness” has arisen with a flurry of political, religious, and social activity.

There is no political ideology, government program, or redistribution of wealth that is going to cure humanity’s ills. In today’s secular, even anti-religious, Western society, religious people are seen as aggressive, intolerant, and foolish. But there are two things a decent religious person possesses that others don’t: A belief that there is a divine judge, which may make them curb their behavior; and a desire for self-improvement, to reduce their sins and strive for something higher.

I have said this before. The previous generation of Gedolim, of which Rav Elyashiv was a member, were in a class by themselves. They had continued a tradition of Gadlus that existed in pre-Holocaust times. They were ‘old school’ in the best sense of the word. With Rav Elyashiv’s passing that generation is almost gone.

My stomach is tied in knots. I'm tense and I can feel my heart racing. It's been so long since I had this sense of dread choking my throat. A terrorist has blown up a bus of Israelis. Not in Israel - in Bulgaria. I'm following the news. Three dead. Five dead. At least seven dead.

After a bus carrying Israeli tourists at Bulgaria's Burgas airport exploded on Wednesday, killing seven and wounding at least 30 more, a U.N. spokesperson said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms." But in reality, the U.N. chief was a lot more restrained than when, for instance, churches were bombed in Kenya two weeks ago. Words matter in diplomacy, and Ban Ki-Moon appeared to reserve his stronger words to violations of the human rights of non-Israelis.

He was having trouble getting up from the platform and into the cattle car. After all, he was only twelve years old and there was no ramp leading inside. An SS thug saw him “dawdling” in front of the car and aimed a boot at the boy’s posterior. The boy jumped out of the way just in time and the SS man fell to his face from the violence of his own kick.

Baseless Hatred: What It Is and What You Can Do About It, a new book by Dr. Rene Levy, tackles a problem that has plagued the Jewish people from very early on in their history; the destructive aspects of which have been responsible for some of their greatest historical calamities and continue to threaten the unity of the Jewish people today.

Chief Rabbi Amar and President Peres met today and discussed the draft issue. They concluded that the debate must continue, but without extremism from...

Should you sell out of your portfolio now?

"Monopoly was created for a summer Shabbat and Fast Days…"! So I heard, time and again, in my early years. Years later, I know rather too well that while "Monopoly" has a place in the Jewish home, I am not sure about it's appropriateness to either Shabbat or a Fast-Day.

My oldest son, Elie, spent today in the Reserves and will be in for a few weeks later this summer. It is what happens when they finish their service in the standing army – a yearly commitment to stay ready; to be prepared.

Young woman and her dog out shopping in the Florentin neighborhood in South Tel-Aviv. The Florentine neighborhood in south Tel-Aviv was established years ago by...

I call on the President of the United States to employ his considerable mastery of words to take up the mantle of Martin Luther King and be a drum major for justice, a beacon for freedom. Sound the clarion call for liberty, Mr. President. Get off the damn fence and stand up for Arab life and liberty. Stop the slaughter in Syria.

Despite President Peres’ pleas to continue the pursuit of peace, people are beginning to say out loud that it is implausible. After assessing the situation with greater depth, I realize that I have a better chance of becoming Miss America than the Middle East does at achieving peace. Still, David Ben-Gurion made a good point when he said: “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.” Miss America or not, let’s keep that positivity coming.

The President's Conference does have something to offer, if you know where to look for it.

Keren Leibovitch is an inspiration because, as she said, she has learned that failure is only a step towards success. She asked everyone, "please do not be afraid of failing. it is the step you take to success. I am the best in the world for what I do." And for who she is - a true inspiration.

Speaking at a discussion of the Knesset Education Committee on the changing status-quo of religious and ultra-Orthodox education, committee member and chairman of the...

Yishai and Malkah talk about their recent trip to the Jerusalem Light Festival and the lack of Jewish themes that were presented throughout the festival.

The Combat Engineering Corps is greeted by a jubilant little fellow after completing their treacherous trek for their gray berets. The Combat Engineering Corps symbol...

Notice that in every culture a cheated husband is a laughing-stock. This attitude to a cuckold shows not only a nasty cruelty towards weakness, but also a reasonable contempt to a voluntary blindness, a reluctance to see what is going on under one’s own nose.

23 students from America and Canada just graduated from the Technion American Medical School in Haifa.