I have now been in quarantine for six days, and while I have mostly been able to keep my spirits up despite the isolation, there are challenging moments. The...

Last week I attended the AIPAC conference in DC, an inspiring three-day gathering of pro-Israel conferences, lobbying, and general schmooze-fest. It is also...

Four months ago, a friend gave my wife a small sapling kumquat tree as a birthday present. We replanted it into a bigger pot, and every few days after water...

Brett Stephens’ recent Op-ed on The Secret of Jewish Genius generated much discussion and controversy. I believe the most important but overlooked point of h...

Who is the ‘real’ Jew, the genius scientist, the pious Rabbinic scholar, or the nebby actor? For the early Zionists, it was none of these. The Maccabees were...

Here is the d'var Torah I shared at the service before the dinner (to only 200 people, by the time 1000 young adults were there schmoozing it was impossible ...

Why Wasn’t Our Family Store Looted on Kristallnacht? This picture shows Nazi soldiers standing in front of the store our family owned and built in Salzburg, ...

Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv is a remarkable experience. You would think that I would say ‘Yom Kippur in Jerusalem is a remarkable experience’, and it probably is....

Y Yom Kippur -Making This Year Count (This was my talk on Yom Kippur) On Rosh Hashanah our 12 year old daughter sat in on the Natanah Tokef prayer in synagog...

When we think of a New Year celebration, what comes to mind are parties, champagne, and a midnight toast to the coming year. The Jewish calendar also has a N...

There is a time to laugh and a time to weep. Most people think this simple yet insightful truism comes from a song written by Pete Seeger entitled Turn, Turn...

Today, August 1st our family is celebrating our one-year Aliyah anniversary. I get chills up and down my arms just writing that statement. When I think back...

In 1894 a young journalist named Theodore Herzl attended the Dreyfus Trial in Paris where a Jewish officer was accused of treason. The intensity of the anti-...

Shavuot could be considered the holiday of the book. Unlike Rosh Hashanah which has the shofar, Chanukah which has the menorah and Sukkot which has the four...

On June 7 1967 at 4:00 am Knesset member Menachem Begin, who had just joined the cabinet of the government of Israel, called the Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol ...

It’s bad enough to make a film about a dysfunctional family that alludes to a wealthy Jewish family. But casting Mel Gibson as the sinister grandfather? Come...

Today is Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers in Israel. Families, friends, people who want to show they care all came to the military cemeter...

It is an honor to be sharing the stage with Luba, a survivor, and to be here commemorating in Tel Aviv, Yom Hazikaron L’shoa ugvurah, the day of remembrance ...

My first time visiting Notre Dame de Paris was when I was 11 years old. I grew up going to a French school, and visited Paris regularly with my family. The t...

The story goes back to the work camps during the WWII. Every morning in the camp a group of Jewish workers got up extra early before dawn and prayed shaharit...