Dear Jew in the City, You recently wrote about prayer and I was wondering: Do our prayers actually accomplish anything? Can my prayers make a difference in the world, or even in my own life? Sincerely, Joseph Dear Joseph, Thanks for your question. As we discussed in that previous article, the purpose of prayer […]
During a family visit to Israel in the summer of 2015, we discovered the sprinkler section of Teddy park, situated roughly between the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem and Mishkenot Sha’ananim (site of the iconic Jerusalem windmill). My children were thrilled to run through the geysers spraying water twenty feet into the air […]
When Hamas terrorists came to maim, torture, rape and murder thousands of Israelis on October 7, a 22-year-old woman named Neta Portal and her boyfriend, Santiago, living in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, found themselves in a life and death situation. Neta turned to the one person she knew could save her — her estranged father – […]
Dear Jew in the City, People often say that learning Torah “holds up the world.” What does that mean exactly? At this time when it’s being more stressed than ever, how is it actually helping? Sincerely, Erin Dear Erin, Thanks for your questions. Before I answer them, I’d like to give you some important […]
“Should I take down my mezuzah?” A friend asked me the other day. I shuddered at the thought. The idea of hiding my Judaism by removing such a fixed item on my home, one that ironically is there to protect that home, was a level I just couldn’t imagine getting to — that I didn’t […]
The news coverage of events in Israel and Gaza since October 7 have been, on the whole, troubling. The most obvious and well-covered example was the rush to (falsely) blame Israel for a hospital bombing that turned out not to have come from Israel, and not to have hit the hospital at all. But there […]
