Vo’eschanan – Little Sins Fuel Bigger Ones
The Kotzker Rebbe likely meant it as a poignant joke when he reportedly remarked that the reason the Ten Commandments had to be both seen and heard (Chazal describe the revelation at Har Sinai...
When President Herzog Spoke to Congress
As the President spoke about Iran, Israel’s quest for peace, and criticism versus delegitimization, he was entirely on point. And the left’s absence again proved their real agenda.
Devarim – The Rock’s Lost Lesson
In Moshe Rabbeinu’s parting rebuke of Klal Yisrael for “not believing in Hashem” (Devarim 1:32), for all its complaining in the wake of the report of the meraglim and beyond, he refers to Hashem’s...
Were We Wrong About Chabad?
For decades, Chabad’s want-to-wrap-tefillin legions made us feel uncomfortable. More bluntly, we mocked them. To be sure, that was only half of the picture. We openly admired Chabad’s mesiras nefesh, and their very real...
Matos-Mas’ei – The Final Word
Although Sefer Devarim is the final “book” of the Torah, in a sense, Sefer Bamidbar is. That is because, while Devarim includes many new laws and accounts, it also repeats some, and is thus...
Pinchas – Selfless Act, Boundless Portion?
Tzelafchad, according to one opinion, was the mekoshesh, or “wood gatherer,” who was executed for violating Shabbos. According to the Targum Yonasan (and a Midrash quoted by Tosfos in Bava Basra 119b), his act...
Judicial Reform Gets a Plug from a High Court Justice
Not intentionally, of course. And not from a justice of the Israeli Supreme Court. Consider the following [with very minor edits in brackets]: At the behest of a party that has suffered no injury,...
Chukas – Echoes of “The Snakey Thing”
It’s commonly, but erroneously, assumed that the symbol commonly used for the medical profession, a snake, or a pair of them, wrapped upon a pole, is meant as a depiction of the nachash hanechoshes...
A Secular-Haredi Debate on Israel’s Cultural War
By Heshy Grossman and Dan Perry [Editor’s Note: The dialogue that follows is refreshing, given that too many folks these days are given to talking past each other, rather than to each other. The...
Artificial Indoctrination: AI engines seem anything but objective
AI language models appear to be programmed to favor a particular ideological slant, to assert woke doctrine as fact, and to avoid facts seen as opposing it.