Messianic Lite: Hukkat, “Decree”

This week’s Torah portion covers Numbers 19:1 to 22:1. Numbers 19 starts out with God instructing both Moses and Aaron on the law of the red heifer. According to the law, a red heifer must be found which has no blemish or defect and has never “borne a yoke.” After slaughtering the perfect red heifer,…

Details

Citing ‘chronic bias against Israel,’ the US quits the UN Human Rights Council

By Jewish News Syndicate— U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced on Tuesday that the United States is pulling out of the U.N. Human Rights Council, citing the world body’s “chronic” bias against Israel as one of the primary factors for the withdrawal. “For too long, the human-rights council has been a protector…

Details

Walking the Gaza Border with Earl Cox

The people living in southern Israel deserve to be honored as heroes. They have built lovely homes and vibrant communities and are raising beautiful families under the harshest of conditions thanks to their hostile neighbors. Only a short distance away Palestinian terrorists are continually taking aim at these Israelis simply because they are Jewish and…

Details

Come Back for Me Captures Weight of Holocaust Trauma

By Mordechai Ben-Dat, Canadian Jewish News— Parallel lines never meet – unless a lodestone of overwhelming force pulls them inexorably toward each other. At that pivotal point of attraction, of course, the two lines cease to be parallel. As we ultimately see, when they converge, they become integral components in a reconfigured aesthetic of movement…

Details

Homecoming of the Eighteen Tattooed Souls

Looking at the Arrivals, Departures exhibition at the Hecht Museum and Talking with its curator Dr Rachel Perry By Inna Rogatchi (C)  Part 1. Homage to Homage, and Quand Méme, Despite of Everything Homage to Homage, Heart to Heart The Arrivals, Departures exhibition opened in early June at the Hecht Museum at the University of…

Details

Messianic Lite: Korach

This week’s Torah portion covers Numbers 16:1 to 18:32. In the aftermath of the twelve spies and the pronouncement that the current generation must languish in the desert until their death, it is not surprising that a serious rebellion occurs next. Korach accuses Moses and Aaron of going too far and elevating themselves at the expense…

Details

US Negotiation Team Heading to Israel, ME to Push Peace Plan

By JNS— US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and White House special adviser Jared Kushner will arrive to Israel as part of a Middle East tour next week to discuss previously undisclosed details of a peace plan being promoted by US President Donald Trump. The delegation is also expected to visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia.…

Details

The Chutzpah of Hamas

By Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, Congregation B’nai Tzedek— Like so many Yiddish words (and curses) the word “chutzpah” is very descriptive. The best definition is the old joke which appears in Leo Rosten’s classic lexicon, “The Joy of Yiddish.” He explains chutzpah as when you kill your parents, and then plead for mercy before the court because…

Details

Democrats Need Anti-Semites to Win

By Karen McQuillan, American Thinker-– The Democrat Party’s power depends on Jew-haters. Democrat politicians and their media elite pander and promote anti-Semitism for two reasons. It is a key part of the identity politics of the left, and since Obama’s transformative impact on his own party, the left is calling the tune on Democrat leadership,…

Details

The Palestine Paradox: Why Do Leftists Love a Palestinian Cause That Rejects Their Values?

By Yigal Walt and Tamer Nashef, Haaretz— Leftists in the West, and particularly its most hard-nosed adherents, have largely endorsed and embraced the Palestinian cause. In Israel, too, significant forces within the leftist camp hold a deeply sympathetic view of the Palestinians and their ongoing struggle. Leftwing activists also play a key role in the BDS…

Details

Following in Jesus’ Footsteps to Serve in the IDF

By Anna Ahronheim, Jerusalem Post— Simon Zauber believes serving in the IDF is his way of following in Jesus’ footsteps. “We were raised in believing in Jesus and to follow his footsteps and what he did was serve so for me it’s very important to serve, in any way I can,” the 19-year-old Givati soldier…

Details

Poll shows deep divisions between Israeli and US Jews on Trump, peace, religion

By AP and TOI— An opinion poll published Sunday shows deep divisions between Israeli and American Jews, particularly in relation to US President Donald Trump, highlighting the growing rift between the world’s two largest Jewish communities. The survey by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) showed 77 percent of Israeli Jews approved of the president’s handling…

Details

Elie Wiesel: The Second Yahrzeit Essay

By Inna Rogatchi I think, or rather feel, that at the time around a yahrzeit of our beloved ones, a certain special cloud is formed in an air around us. Our reflections and memories are dancing around and wrapping us in thoughts. And, hopefully, something else, of another kind of tissue that we cannot describe…

Details