Rabbi Shemuel Laniado (1530-1610) and the pearls beneath the fish
Rabbi Shemuel Laniado belonged to an ancient and prestigious family that descended from Spain. His paternal grandfather, who bore the same name, escaped from...
The Woman Who Discovered Rabbi Akiva
THE FATHER OF THE TALMUD
The Mishna, the Tosefta, the Sifra, and the Sifre, the seminal texts of rabbinical literature, have their origin directly or...
Minds and Stones
IS ANYONE POORER THAN ME?
Rachel, the daughter of Kalba Sabua, married Aqiba, one of her father's herdsmen, because she saw in him an enormous...
How To Thank HaShem? A Lag BaOmer Story
וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם .... וַיִּחַן אֶת פְּנֵי הָעִיר
Ribbi Shimon Bar Yochai passed away on Lag BaOmer, and it is a widely accepted...
The infallible Segula of Abba Hilqiya
In the Gemara, Ta’anit 23a, the Rabbis describe the qualities a person must possess for their Tefilot (prayers) to be answered.
Around the year 100...
Why Is This Yom HaAtzmaut Different from All the Others?
Written in MAY 2025
OPENING YOUR EYES
This Yom HaAtzmaut we celebrate 77 years since the declaration of the independence of the State of Israel. And...
Rabbi Hayim haCohen (1585-1655) and the pirates who stole books
Rabbi Hayim haCohen was born in Egypt in 1585. His father, Ribbi Abraham haCohen, belonged to a distinguished family of Cohanim, descendants of Don...
Declaration of Independence (May 14, 5 Iyar, 1948)
A MOST DIFFICULT DECISION
The British were to leave the territory of Palestine on May 15 at midnight. The Jewish leaders planned to announce the...
What Did The Prophet Zekharia See?
Look closely at this picture. Do you see anything special? Just children playing . Right? Well, not so fast…
This is the Old City of...
YOM HAATZMAUT: What did Isaiah see?
מִי-אֵלֶּה, כָּעָב תְּעוּפֶינָה וְכַיּוֹנִים, אֶל-אֲרֻבֹּתֵיהֶם
There will be those who will flying like clouds, and like doves to their nests
The Tora predicted that the...
Rabbi Yehuda Alqalai (1798-1878) and Modern Zionism
Rabbi Yehuda Alqalai was one of the first rabbis (or Jews) in modern times to formulate the idea of a return to Zion. Following...
Three Miracles of the Independence War
ON VICTORY AND DEFEATOn the day that the Jewish leaders declared the establishment of the new State of Israel, on May 14, 1948 (5...
Lag LaOmer and the Study of Mysticism
In the Sephardic tradition, the 33rd day of the Omer, or Lag LaOmer (sic), is known as the day of the Hillula of Rabbi...
YOM HAATZMAUT: From Tikvatenu to Hatikva
A young man from Galitzia (hoy en Ucrania), named Naphtali Herz Imber, inspired by the founding of Petah Tikvah in 1878, wrote a poem...
The Holocaust In Sephardic Communities
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM OUR ENEMIES?
I would like to briefly refer to the Holocaust in Sephardic communities, a topic that is not often...
Tips to avoid a boring Seder
The night of the Seder is different from all other nights—not just because we eat Matsa and bitter herbs, but mainly because on this...
PESACH: The Seder and a Broadway Show
We will celebrate the first night of the Seder B"H Saturday night, April 12th, 2025
מקימי מעפר דל מאשפת ירים אביוןלהושיבי עם נדיבים עם נדיבי...
Having, keeping and owning Hamets during Pesah
One of the elements that makes the Biblical prohibition of Hamets so unique is that, unlike any other forbidden foods, it includes the ban...
TALKING POINTS FOR THE SEDER
How was assimilation prevented in Egypt?
When our patriarch Ya’aqob was getting ready to descend to Egypt and reunite with his son Yosef —Egypt’s second...
PESACH: Egyptian Slavery and Europe’s Concentration Camps
EXODUS 1:11
Then the Egyptians imposed and taskmasters to and weaken them with hard labor. And the Jews built for Pharaoh the fortified...
