There are conflicting views about the life of Yasser Arafat. France gave him a full state final farewell. Some say that Arafat was a freedom fighter and a hero, who symbolised the suffering and hope of the Palestinian people. Others are more realistic. They say he was the founding father…
Violence in Israel
Which Jew doesn’t cringe in horror at the scene from Fiddler on the Roof where in the middle of a wedding Cossacks appear on horseback to beat innocent Jews? Who would have believed that today, in the modern State of Israel, Jews would act this way towards other Jews? Shockingly,…
The Expulsion Of The Jews: To Whom Can We Turn Now?
Over the last few days together with people all over the world I have been watching the heart-rending scenes that have come out of the Gaza strip. Beyond the immense sympathy I have for the Jewish residents of Gaza and their cause, I am deeply bothered and troubled by the…
Thoughts on the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections
The terror group that pioneered the concept of the suicide bomber and is hell-bent on killing Jews and destroying Israel is now forming a government within twenty miles of Israel’s major population centers. This is bad news for Israel. Anyone who has studied Hamas literature and understands their ideology will…
You Have Made Us Proud
We Jews have tremendous coping power. The "Massacre of the Children" put this power to the test yet again. The pain and suffering that the "Massacre of the Children" caused is beyond belief. Like all of us, I was deeply pained that once again Arab Jew-hating murderers are slaughtering…
Supporting Israel Financially
To me as a child growing up in a Hasidic family and school, the centrality of Israel to Judaism was not overly stressed. However, as I grew older and started to learn Hasidic philosophy, I soon realised that love for and support of the Land of Israel have a central…
Israel Do Not Fear: God Is With You
The Bible talks about all types of Tzara’at (leprosy) including Tzara’at that inflicts buildings. The Torah relates, “God spoke to Moses and Aaron saying: when you arrive to the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I will place Tzara’at affliction upon a house in the…
Why Do They Hate Us?
The recent terror attack in London was unique–it was carried out by British-born fundamentalists, not foreigners. After suffering years of IRA-sponsored terrorism, the question people here in Britain are asking is why people would want to blow their fellow citizens and themselves to smithereens in a crowded rush-hour underground train….
God, How Could You Be So Cruel?
There are no words to adequately describe the horror caused by the tsunami. Watching the disaster unfolding on the film taken by an amateur cameraman in Aceh, Indonesia, left me shaking. How quickly the terror struck! People were going about their daily lives one second and drowning the next. Over…
The War in Iraq – Second Thoughts
So the war in Iraq seemed to be quick and definitive. Now nearly three months on, the almost daily attacks on coalition troops, the deep resentment by the Iraqis and the inability to find any weapons of mass destruction has caused many of us to revisit the justifications for war….