It is difficult to feel two contradictory emotions at the same time. Conflicting, if not …
Eikev: Thank You!
We all like to take credit for success, but failure we tend to blame on others. Such is human…
Va'etchanan: A Smart Torah
What is the role of the Jewish people? To give some insight to this most complex question we must…
Tisha B'Av: Avoiding a Recession
When we think of Tisha B’Av many images enter our mind – this year sadly more than in the past.…
Devarim: Straight Talk
Some of the most stirring and beautiful Biblical words – or any words – are those spoken by the…
Mattot: To Speak or Not to Speak
“In ten utterances did G-d create the world” (Avot 5:1). It is thus not surprising that…
Pinchas: Three Types of Leaders
Parshat Pinchas presents us with at least three distinct models of leadership.
From Bratislava to Nikolsburg
The relationship between modernity and Judaism is perhaps the central question that Jews have…
Balak: Hope over Dispair
As I noted in my last post I had the honour of speaking at the Beit Yehudah synagogue in Budapest…
Shabbat in Budapest
Kazinczy, Dohany, Rumbach. For the average Hungarian these are street names in the heart of…
Thoughts From Budapest: Past, Present, and Future
Jews first settled in Hungary in the 13th century, settling mainly in the city of Buda. In 1526 the…
Torah in Toledo
The city of Toledo sits some 75 kilometres to the south of Madrid, the capital of Spain. It is a…
The Expulsion
If 1148 marks the end of the Golden Age of Spain, the beginning of the end of Spanish Jewry as a…
Chukat: From One Generation to the Next
The transition point from the generation that left Egypt to the one that entered the Land of Israel…
Some Thoughts From Spain
Jews lived in Spain for a very, very long time, possibly from as early as Biblical times. The first…
Korach: A Beautiful Tallit
Tzizit and Mezuzah are two of the most popular and easy to fulfil mitzvot. Thankfully, even Jews…
Shelach Lecha: You Can Quote Me
Great people are not afraid to put their name behind their convictions. “And Calev quieted…
Beha'alotcha: We Need You
“Moshe said to his father-in-law, ‘We are now on our way to the place that G-d promised to us. Come…