A Daily Dose of Kindness
On August 9, 2001, a suicide bomber detonated himself in the Sbarro Pizza parlor in downtown Jerusalem, killing or wounding over 100. Among those killed was Shoshana Greenbaum, a religious school teacher from Los...
Crimes of Communication
“Funny, she doesn’t look Jewish” was the intriguing opening sentence of a recent story in the New York Post about presidential candidate Rep. Michelle Bachmann. The report asserted that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney,...
Eis Tzarah Hi Le-Yaakov
This coming week is an explosively dangerous one for Israel. While many of us are very much aware of the possible consequences of the Palestinian statehood vote at the United Nations, it was not...
On Turning Sixty
The sixtieth birthday is a big one Jews for it means that one has avoided at least one of the definitions of karet – premature death. And with it one is officially welcomed into...
There Must be a Reasonable Explanation
The Zionist Organization of America issued a press release last week noting some curious omissions from the Obama administration’s communications. Candidate Obama omitted any Israeli city from an enumeration of cities victimized by terrorism...
G-d Positioning System
I rode the brake and we descended the single-lane dirt path slowly, feeling the vibration of pebbles under our tires turn into the audible crunch of good-sized stones. My wife and I had embarked...
Mayor Abutbol – Say No to Extremism
In September 1998, a two-room school opened up in Tzoran, a residential community of 1,500 young families, nestled among the agricultural settlements east of Netanya, for 25 six and seven-year-olds. When they arrived at...
9/11 Plus Ten: Reminiscing About Reminiscing
My shul, my entire neighborhood really, hardly acknowledges legal holidays. We very deliberately do not start Shacharis an hour later, as we do on Sunday. There is no slight intended to anyone. The feeling,...
A Personal Account of the Orot Situation
By: Etana Hecht As many of you know, this past week in Bet Shemesh has not been a pleasant one. For those of you who have been hearing bits here and there, or reading...
Elul Preparations: Round Two
Shortly before Rosh Chodesh, I solicited reader feedback on seforim that helped people prepare in Elul for the approaching Yemei ha-Din. The results have made this perhaps the finest hour for Cross-Currents. The suggestions...