What does the word Hanukka mean?
The word Hanukka means “dedication,” and it is used in this sense in Hebrew in phrases like Hanukat-haBayit (dedication of one’s new home).
So, what...
VAYETSE: Anticipating Assimilation
This week's Perasha begins with the exile of Ya'aqob Abinu, our third patriarch. Ya'aqob flees the land of Israel when his brother Esav declares...
VAYETSE: Why We Dream What We Dream
Our Parasha covers twenty years of the life of Ya’aqob Abinu. These years elapsed between two dreams. The first dream took place when Ya'aqob...
Jews and Candles
We are celebrating the holiday of Hanukka. And whenever this festival approaches, I reflect on one important question: what does it mean to be...
Sephardic vs. Ashkenazi traditions in Hanukka
HANUKKA: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEPHARDIM AND ASHKENAZIM
There are no significant differences between the traditions of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews regarding Hanukka. There are only some...
TOLEDOT: The difference between GPS and a Google car
Last week we saw how Abraham Abinu sent his servant to find a good wife for his son Isaac (Itshaq). The rabbis always insisted...
From Meah Shearim to the IDF
THE WAR CONTINUES
I began writing these lines in Yerushalayim. In Israel's capital, the war is not immediately evident, except in the reduced number of...
VAYERA: Lot and the frog syndrome
Lot and Abraham lived in the same area. But when the shepherds of Abraham and Lot quarreled, Abraham suggested to Lot that each one...
VAYERA: Sodom and Gomorrah and the Bible as History
THE DISCOVERY OF THE CENTURY
As a teenager, I remember reading an exciting book called “The Bible as History” (I read it in Spanish “Y...
VAYERA: Abraham and a different kind of opportunism
DICTIONARY:
Opportunism is the art, policy, or practice of taking advantage of opportunities or circumstances, often with little regard for principles ….
Synonym for opportunism: exploitation
KINDNESS...
