First of three parts.  Dateline Jerusalem — I gave the guest address this week for the English-speaking chapter of a religious women’s charity in my town. Some in the audience requested copies of my speech. This essay is not my talk, but  it incorporates material. The title of my speech was “Torah and Talmud’s Influence on U.S. Laws and Government.” … Read More

We received bittersweet news this week of a top-secret daring rescue of Syrian Jews from the ravages of civil war in Syria, amidst our daily news of Palestinian attacks on Jews in Israel.  Bittersweet because although the secret evacuation of the last Syrian Jews was successful, it meant the end of a nearly 3,000-year old history of the ancient Jewish … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — Is it just happening to me? Or have you noticed that what is going into your email spam or junk mail folder is not always spam?   I can almost guarantee in my spam folder I will find good news about Israel.  No wonder so many of my readers say they do not get decent news about Israel. Sometimes they … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — I used to live in a wind tunnel, or so it seemed, in the high desert of California.  Howling winds and dust storms were so common I sometimes found it difficult to fall asleep without their roar.  Once when sitting in my sukkah (a temporary hut or booth) with family and friends for a festive meal during the holiday … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — The oldest trick.  As Mark Twain borrowed from an old proverb 150 years ago, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” With the advent of instant worldwide communication, lies are spread across the planet in seconds. Dishonest, deliberately misleading practices of journalists and the media unfortunately are commonplace, … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — What was it like to live in the 1800s in the American Wild West? Cowboys and lawmen had to wear revolvers on their belts. Women hid derringers hidden in little purses to protect themselves from murderous gun toting outlaws?  Just ask Israelis trying to survive in October 2015 from shootings, stabbings, firebombs, explosions, vehicle assaults, suicide bombings, rock throwing, a … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — This week on Shemini Atzeret, the Jewish holiday at the end of the weeklong Sukkot holiday, Jews throughout the world prayed for rain.  In less than 48 hours the blue skies in Israel opened up with downpours.  G-d heard our voices.  Across Israel now we are praying that the violence perpetrated by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians —  using … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — I awakened this morning to find a small crack in the bottom of my new laptop computer, and two missing screws, one of which I found on my bed.  How and when this happened, I have no clue.  It had been atop the bookshelf next to my bed.  I do not remember dropping it, like I did … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — I have a pet peeve, the media using anti-Israel political rhetoric. Certain words. When it comes to the term “stone-throwing” Arabs and Palestinians, I put the word in quotes. They do not throw stones. They throw rocks.  The difference is the size.  A pebble would be a tiny stone found in a fish tank. A stone is … Read More

Dateline Jerusalem — It was like waking up in the Twilight Zone.  The stillness in the air, an overbearing gloom, a bizarre yellow sky, oppressive heat and humidity even though the air conditioner was blowing 24/7. The gloom felt like doom, as though I had awakened to an indescribable atmospheric phenomenon reminiscent of pictures from a nuclear holocaust.  As global tensions … Read More