On Sunday, September 6, I posted an article on my blog in Times of Israel titled, “There Is a Jessica Krug in Every Jew,” (http://bit.ly/TOIKrugFB) where I explained that the tendency, or wish, to eschew our role in the world…
Some six months ago, the first Covid-19 patient passed away in Israel. Now, after breaking another record in the number of new confirmed cases and widening our “lead” as the country with the most infections per-capita, we are finally beginning…
A few days ago, a George Washington University African history professor confessed that she had pretended for many years to be of Afro-Latina descent, when in fact she was white and Jewish. As part of her identity, she even spoke…
In less than a month, we will be wishing one another Shanah Tova (have a good year), the Hebrew equivalent of Happy New Year. But the beginning of the Hebrew year is not only a time of joy. First and…
Now that Covid-19 has imposed social distancing on us, many establishments that rely on physical attendance have a problem. Among them are shuls. According to a story on Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), “The pandemic’s first High Holiday season has synagogues…
There has indeed been an upsurge of violence recently in America. For instance, murders in Chicago and New York are currently 50 percent higher now than what they were at this time last year, and then there are also the…
A few years ago, an Israeli TV documentary told the story of a small village in Israel that had a population of 120 families, and six(!) shuls. Why six shuls if there are only 120 families? Because the families—all of…
We need to understand that nature is guiding us to a state of complete unification, and thus we should be interested in seeking how we can unite above our differences. It is incumbent on such unity that the diversity of…
We really don’t understand why COVID struck. People blame it on China, blame it on the Jews, blame it on bats, minks, deforestation, corrupt pharmaceutical companies, and so on and so forth. But no one blames himself. No one blames…
Our world is governed by two forces, positive and negative, and we humans exist between these forces. In spirituality, the root of the negative force is called “Tisha B’Av” (“the 9th of Av”). Even as far back as in ancient…
It is the 9th of Av today, the date on the Hebrew calendar when both Temples were destroyed because of internal conflicts and unfounded hatred, and when two exiles began. The latter ruin is more relevant to today because all…
The maelstrom of a global pandemic has recently kept worldwide anti-Semitism relatively quiet, but it does not mean that Jew haters are resting. On Twitter, the anti-Semitic hashtag #JewishPrivilege, which was originally used to accuse Jews of racism and control…