How can one dare proclaim to compress the vastness of Judaism, the bedrock of all monotheistic religions, in a… nutshell? Is that not insultingly pretentious?? I would have thought so, if it weren’t for the precedents that our sages set down some two millennia ago. Rabbi Akiva narrowed down the 613 commandments to one nuclear …
Continue reading ‘Universal Judaism in a nutshell – Shalom Magazine, High Holidays 5776’ »
Kristallnacht is no longer just a dark memory in the world’s history, that night when evil emerged as a force that was not thwarted before it was too late.Destruction of synagogues and Jewish-owned stores, deaths of over a hundred and the expulsion of thousands, were encountered by the world’s silence. (Nov 9th 1938, ‘the night of broken …
Dear all… It is generally believed that a community draws its character and style from the geographical background in which it is positioned. Coming from a hot-tempered middle- east environment, namely: Israel, I expected the Halifax Jewish community to be, somewhat more mild; less bubbly and less warm (for better as for worst) as fitting …
Continue reading ‘Letter to the Halifax Jewish Community – Published 21/8 5772’ »
I called this article ‘The Victory of the dreidel’ because of an interesting fact about Chanukah. The Chanukah story, in a nutshell, contains two parts. First – The miraculous military victory of a few priests who never held a sword in their lives, against the mightiest undefeated army of ancient Greece. For this we add …