They Tried to Kill Us but Failed Miserably
Hanukkah is quickly approaching and I am reminded of a joke my father, of blessed memory, used to tell every year after lighting the candles. With the doughnuts and potato pancakes arranged on the table and waiting to be eaten, my dad would announce, “They tried to...
Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims’ Antisemitism is Still Felt Today
The recent surge in antisemitism from the Black Hebrew community regurgitates age-old tropes, namely that another group has replaced the Jews as God’s Chosen People. When Christianity first broke off from Judaism 2,000 years ago, the younger religion claimed that...
What Does the Balfour Declaration Have to do With Genesis 12:3?
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz A wonderful aspect of reading the weekly Torah portion is the synchronicity that happens when the scripture matches up with current or historical events. This week, we read the section of the Torah containing God’s promise to bless those who...
A Treasured People
According to Google, the meaning of the word treasure is “a valuable or valued item.” In the Torah portion of Re’eh, God uses this term of endearment to describe the Jewish people (Deuteronomy 14:2), a term that He first uses to describe them in Exodus: For you are a...
