History
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FAILURES
5/20/2013 12:16 PM
History has recorded for us great powers, ideas, faiths and societies that though apparently successful for periods of time, even long centuries, have turned eventually into monumental failures. The twentieth century was witness to the immense failure of fascism and of communism as examples of promised social panaceas that eventually collapsed due to false ideals and dogmatic ineptitude. ...
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THE NEW POPE, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE JEWS
4/3/2013 06:00 AM
The new Pope of Rome, a 76-year-old Argentinian cardinal, ascends his throne with a murky past. Rumors have always swerved about him and his behavior during the terrible period of “The Dirty War” that engulfed Argentina, when the country was controlled by the military juntas. The cardinal was accused of complicity and of notable silence during that sad period of time that consumed tens...
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Rabbi Wein’s Recommended Reading List
1/6/2013 04:36 PM
“I am hooked on books. If I had unlimited space in my home and unlimited shekels in my bank account, I know that my library would at least triple in size on an annual basis.” – Rabbi Berel Wein As a noted author and voluminous reader himself, Rabbi Berel Wein brings vast knowledge and life experience to each of his reviews. Here is a listing of some of his recommended readings...
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DEFINING ONE’S SELF
12/17/2012 01:23 PM
Individuals, societies and nations are always pursuing the elusive goal of self-definition. God’s question to Adam “Where are you?” can easily be interpreted as also being the question of “Who are you?” The search for our true inner self is the single most complicated and psychologically difficult pursuit of the human soul. Many people unfortunately define themselves only in terms of...
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Chanuka
12/10/2012 12:56 PM
Timing is everything. This is true in financial matters, personal choices, national decisions, as well as in historical events. Nevertheless, we are able to see that the present is not necessarily the past and that options and opinions that are currently relevant and popular once held no sway. Our ancestors the Hasmoneans engaged in the same type of struggles, physical as well as spiritual, that...
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OLD BLESSINGS, NEW BEGINNINGS
10/11/2012 12:59 PM
The Torah completed its annual cycle of weekly readings this past week with the parsha of V’Zot Habracha. It begins our new yearly reading of the Torah this Shabat with the reading of parshat Bereshith. Rashi points out to us that when Moshe came to bless the tribes of Israel before departing this world he purposely connected his blessings to the past blessings of Yaakov to his children...
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שנות ה-30 של המאה ה-20
7/22/2012 11:38 AM
הסרט "שמים מבשרי רע 1930-1939" שהופק על ידי קרן דסטני כחלק מסדרת ה"גורל ואמונה" המספרת את סיפורו של העם היהודי במאה ה-20, מוצג כעת בכמה מקומות בעולם. נכחתי ונאמתי בכמה מן המקומות האלה, וגיליתי שיהודים מודאגים מאוד שואלים אותי...
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FAST DAYS AND A SLOW SUMMER
7/9/2012 01:15 PM
Summer here in Israel is the time for Saturday night demonstrations. Most of the time the demonstrations are gatherings looking for a cause rather than a cause inspiring demonstrations. It is just the thing to do on the warm Saturday nights in Tel Aviv. For many years the demonstrations concentrated on the peace process with the Palestinians. However it has become clear to the vast...
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MEMORIES AND REGRETS
6/11/2012 12:37 PM
This month of June commemorates the forty-fifth anniversary of the Six Day War, an event that changed Israeli and Jewish in myriad ways. Those of us who lived through those fateful and fearsome days, we recall the foreboding and mental and emotional depression that gripped the Jewish world for the three weeks leading up to the war itself. The Arabs proclaimed that they would end the State...