One of the most surreal moments of my memorable yeshiva experience lasted all but a few seconds and really didn’t involve me, at least not directly. The walk between my Beis Yisroel apartment and Mir Yerushalayim, a walk that I took multiple times a day, included a series of
The most remarkable thing about the failed coup in Turkey last week is how utterly unremarkable it actually was. While this particular coup was unsuccessful, since 1960 Turkey has been overthrown four times through takeovers organized and perpetrated by its own military.
There are many mysterious and cryptic passages found in the writings of our great sages. Perhaps one of the more obscure and puzzling of all is found in last week's Torah reading. We read that Korach and his cohorts accused Moshe of misappropriating his authority over the
Less than two weeks ago, the Orthodox community learned of a terrible scandal, a lowlight for rabbis around the world, as the promiscuous and abusive escapades of a popular teacher/scholar were called out. The whistleblowing was led by six geographically diverse
One of the most famous American photos was captured by reporter George Tames on February 10, 1961. The picture is of President John F. Kennedy, recently inaugurated, standing hunched over in the Oval Office. From behind, it looks as if he is carrying the weight of the
When Achilles, the Greek mythological figure, was a baby, it was foreseen that he would die young. In an effort to protect him, his mother Thetis took him to the River Styx, which supposedly contained powers of invincibility. She immersed him into the river, but held him by
He was born and bred in Tel Aviv a mile from the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv where Yossele Rosenblatt once packed the shul to the rafters and where great Talmedei Chochomim once gave droshos to standing-room-only crowds. Nowadays, the shul hardly has two minyanim of men and a handful of women who 
