In memory of my dear friend: Michael Moshe HaKohen Klein. z”l. History, the study of cause and effect in the annals of humankind, has been a serious challenge for honest historians. In many way...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/chanukah-history-is-written-by-our-choices/
As I child, I would prepare myself and repent for any misbehavior (so as not to lose out on the presents) before encountering this great personality
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/sinterklaass-a-tongue-in-cheek-look-at-a-remarkable-tradition/
“We have a maximum of choices and a minimum of meaning.” — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l As I mentioned in my last essay, it seems that many religious and secular communities suffer from ...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-upcoming-post-corona-crisis/
In this essay, I’d like to present some initial, somewhat incomplete thoughts concerning the Corona pandemic and its aftermath. These observations are tentative and provisional, not definitive ...
It is impossible to grasp. My friend and teacher is gone. I consider Lord Rabbi Sacks’ passing as a world-shattering event. For Jew and non-Jew. Over the years, most of us rabbis have become ir...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/in-memory-of-lord-rabbi-jonathan-sacks-z-l/
In memory of Betty Ninary z.l. of Beth Juliana, Israel Chazanut and The “Untouchable” Many of us, including myself, are deeply affected by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, probably the gre...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/god-bach-and-the-chasidic-nigun/
Traveling through a desert is journeying through a lonely place, completely forsaken. There is neither food nor water, nor any other form of sustaining substance. There is only the unbearable sun...
Few matters are more difficult to understand than the nature and purpose of Yom Kippur. What is it that this awesome day wants to tell us? What does it want to accomplish? There is basically only...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/yom-kippur-the-confrontation-with-undeserved-life/
Something strange happens on Rosh Hashana. We spend hours declaring God’s majesty, using poetic and unique phrases. We refer to Him as the Ultimate King and Mover of the World. We ask Him to st...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/rosh-hashanah-the-challenge-of-the-shofar/
Advice to the Reader: “To read is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him, and travel in his company.” – Andre Gide, Third Imaginary Interview, Pretexts, 19...
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-spiritual-problem-with-the-26-letters-of-the-alphabet/