A critical lesson of the Holocaust is that all it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing, to paraphrase Simon Wiesenthal. Yes, for many “good” people, all it takes is silence, looking the other way, ignoring the atrocities committed before their eyes. But for most people, a larger number than… Continue reading It takes every single one of us
Now featured on America's Frontline Doctors. Let’s face it, the State of Israel is not what we thought it was. This is now a place where you can be turned away because you haven’t submitted yourself to an experiment in the past 6 months. (But as long as you're part of a beauty pageant, you… Continue reading The “Jewish” State Is No Longer Jewish
What Are We To Learn From The Shechem Massacre? The lesson here is twofold: personal and national. However, before we dive into those two lessons, I want to remind you of two quotes that encompass the two lessons, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?” (Bereishit 34:31), and “Then they travelled, and the fear… Continue reading Part Two: The National and Personal Lessons We Learn From the Story of Shechem
Summary of the Story Parsha Vayishlach is filled with numerous important events. However, I would like to focus on one that pries at our modern sensibilities: the story of Shechem. Allow me first to give a small summary. Yaakov temporarily settled before the city of Shechem. Dinah, his only daughter, went out to meet the… Continue reading Part One: The City of Shechem and the Case for Collective Punishment
People don’t care about each other anymore. Did you notice? Did you notice how no one actually checks up on you, how everyone hides behind the internet? Fakebook and iDon’tMessage feel like a cheapskate move to “stay in contact.” Nobody stays in contact anymore. People who were once friends, once faces you saw in real… Continue reading Humans Are Irrelevant
Introduction In Parsha Vayera, “the LORD said (to Avraham), ‘The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave! I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.’” (Bereishit 18:20-21) Avraham, then proceeded to plead… Continue reading Avraham, Sodom, and Yitzhak, How the Three Are Connected
In Parsha Bereishit, we find a very interesting episode. Chava is convinced by the serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. She then proceeds to tell Adam that he should try the fruit, and now, we schmegegges get to dwell in this crazy world. We could be prancing in the Garden of Eden, but because of… Continue reading Cunning and Subjectivity
Every land is owned by those who acquired it. When a land is conquered, no one questions to whom the land belongs to. What was the last time someone seriously proposed that California belongs to Mexico? If California belongs to Mexico, then we must factor in the fact that the Spanish who established the country… Continue reading The Iron Bandaid
There is an article called, “The Revenge We Are Waiting For” on The Jewish Press, an interesting read by Shmuel Sackett. I appreciate Mr. Sackett's intention and desires, but I would like to respectfully disagree with him on his approach. I believe that a thorough analysis of this article could glean a lot of wisdom… Continue reading Vengeance
If you don’t follow the Torah, you have no moral basis. You might argue that you don’t really need the Torah, because you have the right ideas already. You know it’s important not to kill, not to commit violence against another, not to steal. But how long can you go through life relying on your own intuitive… Continue reading If you don’t follow the Torah, you have no moral basis.
The Singing Soul 