The ancient town of Belmonte is nestled in the mountains of Portugal, with breathtaking views and beautifully cobblestoned streets steeped in history…
Forced to Convert
When one thinks of recent world powers, it is unlikely many would think of Portugal. But had we lived 500 years ago our thinking would be very…
Landing in Lisbon
I last travelled abroad in February 2020 to visit our daughter studying in Israel. Arriving back in Toronto I smiled upon seeing the signs to let…
Musings from Morocco: Lasting Impressions
Visiting Morocco leaves one with both a sense of hope and of despair. The sense of despair does not refer to the decline of Jewish community,…
Musings from Morocco: Shabbat in Marrakech
The city of Marrakech was, for many years, home to the largest Jewish population in Morocco. Today it has two functioning shuls: one in the …
Musings from Morocco: Berber Blessings
“Eizo asheer? Hasameach bechelko, Who is wealthy? One who is happy with his lot”. It is often hard for many of us raised in the…
Musings from Morocco: Welcome to Fez
Outside of the world of the yeshiva, it’s a safe bet to assume that most who study Talmud do so as part of the Daf Yomi cycle. This…
Musings from Morocco
“With fidelity to its irreversible choice to construct a democratic State of Law, the Kingdom of Morocco…having as its bases the…
Goodbye Greece
As I sit on the plane, having just spent ten glorious days in Greece, let me share some final thoughts of our wonderful trip. Greece is a…
The Charm of Chalkis
Something that one might be fairly certain will never appear in a shul, no matter where it is or what the denomination, is a cross. Well, almost…
Salutations from Salonica
As one enters the beautiful Yad Lezikaron shul in Salonica, one notices plaques on the wall. But unlike in most shuls, these are not yahrzeit plaques…
Impressions from Ioannina
One of the beautiful experiences in travelling around the Jewish world is seeing the richness and diversity of Jewish life. I imagine not many on…
Commentary from Corfu
“Ma rabu ma’asecha Hashem, how beautiful are Your creations, G-d!” After travelling in Greece for a couple of days, one understands…
Arrival in Athens
Philosophy, mathematics, democracy, the Olympics, architecture, libraries, trial by jury, mythology, and the alphabet are just some of the…
Reflections from Frankfurt, Germany
Often when we think of Frankfurt we think of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch. And for good reason. He almost single handedly is responsible…
Reflections from Worms, Germany
Moving along the Rhine from Mainz one arrives in Worms. Along with Mainz and Speyer Worms is one of the Kehilot Shum, the three great centres of…
Musings from Mainz, Germany
Askenazic Jewry begins as Jews settle along the Rhine river in the middle decades of the tenth century. While individual Jews may have…
Reflections from Germany - Part 3
In our last post I discussed our meeting three of the communal rabbis of Berlin. We also met with the Rabbi of the separatist…