Poland is disgustingly beautiful in the spring. I went to bear witness where my people were annihilated, but I never expected to see plains and hills so deep and richly green. I never saw such vibrant rows of yellow flowers. The weather was perfect. I wanted to mess it up, spit on it, hack at […]
Dear Jew in the City, Why does Hashem need our prayers, especially when He already knows what we want and need? Why is prayer so important? Sincerely, Rachel Dear Rachel, Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, you’ve got things backwards. God is complete and perfect; we’ve got nothing to offer Him that He “needs.” Sure, […]
It’s a dark heavy time… our hostages are still not home, war rages on. And it’s Adar, the Jewish month which when our joy should increase. Is this feasible? Are we really supposed to be happy when Israel is at war? And how are we supposed to increase our joy just because the Hebrew calendar […]
I had the privilege of seeing Harmony last night, the final week before the show closes in an unfortunately short run. The production opened in mid-October and is having its last performance on February 4. While the show was created well before October 7, 2023, it’s almost like the writer knew how deeply the themes […]
In a time when it seems like the world is turning against us, when people all over are crying out that a Jewish state shouldn’t exist, we keep getting gifts that show us just how true to the land we are. (If only others would take note!) The discovery by researchers at four Israeli universities […]
When we had my son Rafi, knowing he was the last baby, I nicknamed him Rafikomen. The Ari taught that Jewish parents are imbued with Ruach Hakodesh (Divine inspiration) when they name their children. The names they choose describe the essence of their children. The gemara (Talmud) discusses a similar idea in terms of character in […]
