Bean and Roasted Tomato Soup 10 servings This is a hearty winter soup that can be made a few days ahead and will keep either refrigerated or frozen. 1/2 pound small dried beans, such as Great Northern 3 pounds tomatoes, cored, halved and seeded 3 tablespoons olive oil 6 garlic cloves, peeled 6 cups vegetable […]

“We gratefully thank You… for Your miracles that accompany us daily.” (Shemoneh Esrei, Siddur) The first of the Ten Commandments, “I am your God,” is more of a statement than a command. With it, God inculcated our belief in Him so that we are able to sense His presence—even in mundane phenomena. This is the […]

On March 21, 2002, a suicide bombing on Rechov King George in Jerusalem killed three people and injured eighty-seven. Though our apartment’s proximity to downtown Jerusalem is such that I recall hearing the explosion’s dull thud, the only news item I retained from that particular pigua (bombing) was tangential: A few minutes before dying, a […]

Miracles aren’t always easy to recognize. Some are obvious, and others come and go unseen. But more striking and enduring than the miracle itself is how the recipient responds to it. Members of the Levy family saw their miracle as an opportunity to become closer to the Maker of All Miracles. It was a hot […]

View Slideshow In 2002, Ita Mond’s youngest child entered kindergarten, marking a significant milestone for him—and for his mother. Finding herself with some free time, Mond, a formerly active painter, decided to brush up on her brushstrokes and take some art classes. Eager to get back into the art world, she joined a few artists’ […]

  “And the land shall rest.” Vayikra 25:1-7 Every seventh year, residents of the land of Israel are reminded that the land that flows with milk and honey is G-d’s property and domain. He grants the bounty of the six “regular” years and He commands that the land lie fallow during the seventh year, the […]

It is generally thought that scientific knowledge is characterized by objectivity, observation, experiment and reproducibility, whereas knowledge in the realm of religion is thought to be based on subjectivity, holy scriptures, tradition and faith. I shall challenge the above views and demonstrate that there are, in fact, striking similarities between knowledge in the realm of […]

Still staggering from the trauma of the dreadful news of the demise of my niece, Judy Young, I find myself unable to offer adequately either my feelings of bereavement or an evaluation of her short but full life. My initial reaction is to quote Kohelet: “Vehinei dimat ha’ashukim ve’ein lahem menachem, Behold the tears of […]

Was Chava actually created from one of Adam’s ribs?

Oil plays a dominant role in the observance of Chanukah. Many of us light our chanukiyot (Chanukah menorahs) with olive oil instead of candles. And whether one is in Israel, where sufganiyot (deep-fried jelly donuts) are the popular culinary treat, or in America, where latkes (fried potato pancakes) are the seasonal highlight, oil plays an […]

It’s that time of year again in the Jewish State. An entire industry has shut down, workers are refraining from taking up their posts, and their tools and machinery lie about idly gathering dust. But this is not your typical Israeli labor strike or trade union walkout. Rather, it is something far more profound and […]

It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but I’m not a ba’alas teshuvah (BT). As I was born to observant Jewish parents, the outreach networks dismiss me as an “FFB”—a “frum from birth” specimen, not worthy of attention. The term itself suggests staleness. After all, an FFB arrives in a world where traditions and education are […]

On Motzei Shabbat, March 9, 2002, just after 10:30 PM, a suicide bomber entered Jerusalem’s bustling Café Moment and detonated the powerful explosives strapped to his body, completely gutting the restaurant, murdering eleven people, wounding fifty-eight others and dramatically changing the lives of all touched by the horror—one amazingly for the better. At the time […]

In his classic opus To Be a Jew, Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin poses a familiar rhetorical query most succinctly: “If proof of God’s existence is beyond our capacity, why should rational man proclaim such faith with the same fervor and intensity that comes with truly ‘knowing the Lord?’” I submit that this is a question […]