click to dowload our latest edition
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Many consider the end of this week’s parsha, the longest in the Pentateuch, to be boring and repetitive. Truth be told, of the portion’s 176 verses,...
To get to the top of Mount Sinai entails an arduous jeep ride to the foot of the mountain. This is then followed by a two-hour...
Long lines of refugees fleeing in the bitter winter cold, stooped by fear of an unknown future, their faces bearing the unspeakable suffering of having left...
Leave it to the Jews. The entire country is reeling in frustration at yet another extension of the State of Disaster. We cannot wait for the...
I was sad when I read Howard Feldman’s column in last week’s SA Jewish Report (10 February 2022) advocating for shorter shul services. He writes beautifully,...
You have all heard the joke many times before. The summary of all Jewish holidays: “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.” To a...
Theories abound about the Tembisa 10. Something seems not quite kosher about the birth of those decuplets. And, there was something not so kosher about the...
I have long battled with Unetane Tokef (the power of the sanctity of the day). It may be one of the highlights of the Rosh Hashanah...
An easy, albeit shallow, approach to understanding suffering in this world is to suggest that Hashem is just letting things happen, that it’s just nature taking...
Do you want to preserve your eyesight? Mishna Berura (24,7) quotes an ancient custom that will prevent blindness. Passing the tzitzit over our eyes when reciting...
We love round numbers. The celebration of decades, half centuries, and centuries always takes on special significance. Next week, on Shavuot, we will celebrate, for the...
As the Jewish nation camps in the wilderness linking the land of the Pharaohs and the promised land, they are warned not to emulate the behaviour...
One seder practice has always held a special mystique for me. It’s the point when Prophet Elijah’s cup is filled and the door is opened to...
We all love fairy tales. Beautiful, clever heroes who use their charm to bring frightening dramas to a quick denouement after which everybody lives happily ever...
One of the most memorable Chanukah holidays of my life was spent in the Old City of Jerusalem. Walking through the narrow lanes and alleyways of...
I always feel very emotional saying farewell to the sukkah at the end of the festival. For a week, we have been sheltered in G-d’s embrace,...
A young man walks into the rabbi’s office and asks if he may speak to him for a few minutes. Apparently, he is considering a career...
Exegetical license is a powerful tool in the hands of rabbis. (In simpler English, it’s the right to stray from the literal meaning of scripture in...