June 2011   Today is June 14, but it is also the 12th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan, a month which boasts the Jewish holiday of Shavuot- Pentecost- the holiday celebrating the Giving of our Torah. It’s a very special holiday and a very special month… a time in which we are meant […]

This week’s Torah portion includes the final three plagues and the beginning of the exodus. It also includes the instructions for the celebration of the Passover holiday and the procedure for the sacrifice of the lamb.

        I was walking down my block,Hashikma Road, the other day and passed #20. There was a little red tricycle parked outside and a small plastic slide perched on the front lawn. I still do a double take when I realize there is a new, young family living there. To me, that […]

This week we begin the Book of Exodus. The first portion is one of transformation – the children of Israel, the family of Jacob, become the “Hebrews” and the Children of Israel, with a national focus.

We are just two weeks away from national elections in Israel and it is, indeed, a unique election campaign.  Not so much because the parties have changed their strategies or because the campaign slogans are surprising, but because, for the first time in decades, the outcome of the elections is a foregone conclusion.  Everyone, even […]

This is the English version of Meditate, by Rev. Henk Poot.

November 2011   De feestdagen zijn weer voorbij en we zijn weer overgegaan tot de orde van de dag. We kijken uit naar het begin van de winter en bidden dagelijks voor de regen die zo nodig is voor ons woestijnland. Er zijn geen feestdagen op de de kalender deze maand, een soort van rustperiode […]

Editor’s Note: Because you’ve been with us through so much, we’ve joyfully included some of the pictures from the Baras wedding for you, a part of our family. The first is of the bridegroom being escorted by his dad, the bride’s dad, and friends to verify that the bride is truly his chosen. The second […]

Today is the 9th of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. On this day, we mourn the destruction of both the first and second temples, 2597 and 1941 years ago, respectively. However, this date on the Hebrew calendar has become associated with so many national tragedies throughout our history, beginning with the fateful […]

I have just returned from an amazing experience in the Israeli Knesset. Popular US television and radio commentator, Glen Beck, was a guest of the Knesset and I was invited to participate in the meeting with him. There were a number of Members of Knesset present at the meeting, as well as members of the […]