Post Mickey Marcus: Israel’s First General and WWII Vet The Israel-US alliance is a covenant sealed with the blood of brave warriors. One of the finest examples of this was Colonel David Daniel “Mickey” Marcus who, after serving in… Read More
Post Orlah: No Fruit for the First Three Years Leviticus 19 describes the prohibition against eating fruit produced by a tree during the first three years after planting: When you enter the land and plant any tree for food,… Read More
Post Pesach Sheini (Second Passover): the Holiday of Second Chances Pesach Sheini (second Passover), which occurs on the 14th of Iyar, one month after the Passover offering is offered, embodies the concept of a “second chance” more than any other… Read More
Post “Read the curses out loud”: From Holocaust to Holy Land Rabbi Shlomo Riskin told the following story about Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the spiritual leader of the Sanz-Klausenberg sect of Hassidic Jews. Rabbi Halberstam’s wife, eleven children and most of… Read More
Post Redeeming the Land: Preparing the Foundations of the Messiah When looking for clues regarding what will bring about the redemption, it becomes clear that the land of Israel is an essential element. But the key to redeeming the land… Read More
Post Shemittah: Putting Your Trust in God In addition to the weekly Shabbat which was observed in the desert, Leviticus instructs the Children of Israel to keep the Shemittah. Shemittah (literally, ‘release’) is usually translated as the… Read More
Post Sing for Jerusalem and Bring the Messiah The Talmud (Sanhedrin 94a) states that God was ready to appoint King Hezekiah as the Messiah but decided against it because he didn’t sing after Hashem did miracles for him…. Read More
Post A Silver Lining to Jewish Slavery? After being enslaved for several centuries, the subject of slavery was painfully personal for the Children of Israel. But slavery was an essential and common element of society in Biblical… Read More
Post Exile: God’s Everlasting Love for Israel There are two passages in the Torah that contain a short list of promised blessings should the Children of Israel adhere to the commandments, and a longer list of curses… Read More
Post The Newest (and least known) Israeli holiday In June 2004, the Israeli Knesset instituted Herzl Day to be observed on the 10th of Iyar, Theodor Herzl’s birthday. On this day, a state memorial service is held on… Read More