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Sivan 10, 5768, 6/13/2008 Belated Hebron Day Wishes If there was light in Hebron, there was light in Jerusalem.As printed in this week’s Jewish Press:  Last week we celebrated not only Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day. We also marked the return to Hebron, 41 years ago, during the 1967 Six Day War. It’s no coincidence that these two festive days come […]

David’s Vision or Bush’s Vision Published: Monday, May 05, 2008 11:19 PM The synagogue was built and knocked down again. Chazon David. Many people are familiar with the name of the small synagogue just off the main road leading from Kiryat Arba to Hebron. Constructed some seven years ago after the murder of David Cohen and Hezi Mualem on the […]

In a few nights we will participate in one of Judaism’s most ancient ceremonies, and certainly one of the year’s most treasured events. We sit around a table and conduct a Seder – the annual recitation of the story of Israel’s redemption from Egypt. Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook, Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, writes that that exodus had a two-fold […]

Printed in the Jerusalem Post Many events, despite their joy and festivity, may also have bittersweet shadows lurking behind them. It is customary at every Jewish wedding, that under the huppa, or wedding canopy, the groom recites the words from Psalms 137:5-6: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning. Let my tongue cleave to […]

Adar Bet 26, 5768, 4/2/2008 Little terrorists-in-training You can imagine what went through the father’s head: Yes, or No – Clobber him, or, Don’t do it.You may have seen the report from Hebron, a couple of days ago about an Arab youth who stole a woman’s hat, across from Ma’arat HaMachpela. A you may, or may not know, many religiously observant […]

This morning one of the headlines adorning the Jerusalem Post reads, “Israel mulls PA troops in Hebron.” When called the previous evening for a reaction to this story, one of the points I made was, “Israel is allowing armed terrorists to ‘legally’ return to Jenin. After the number of soldiers we lost in Jenin cleaning out the terrorist nests there, […]

Adar Bet 4, 5768, 3/11/2008 An open letter to dearest Ehud we have no way of preventing these rocket attacks from recurringOur dearest Ehud,We would like to express our deepest gratitude to you following your visit to Ashkelon earlier today. We found your statement there, to the Jewish people of the city quite informative and encouraging. You told the people […]

This morning I must admit: I did something I’m not wont to do. I read an article called ‘Heads to the right,’ penned by Gideon Levy in Haaretz newspaper. Even stranger, I actually agreed with some of what he wrote. Not everything, of course, but bits and pieces. For example, the 2nd paragraph: Mercaz Harav is the flagship of the […]

Adar Bet 2, 5768, 3/9/2008 Damage control – wall-style I’d thought to write this morning about how Shabbat was quiet and relaxing. A Jerusalem men’s choir visited Hebron and Kiryat Arba. They sang us through Sabbath morning prayers at Ma’arat HaMachpela, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Something of a cleansing of the soul. But… What can you […]

Adar 30, 5768, 3/7/2008 Torn into pieces Last night was a bad dream – no, a nightmare, really really bad. The kind of events you try not to think about. After managing to express a few of my thoughts (posted in my previous blog) I managed to get some sleep. Total exhaustion forced the sleep on me, but surely it […]