From the Rabbi's Desk

In Ancient Greece, where the Olympic games originated, there was a rule called the Olympic Truce. There was a need to protect spectators and athletes alike and thus, each time there was a competition, it was recognized that all battles were suspended. This concept seems so impossible because conflict is about not working together… it’s about a total abdication of all rules… conflict is all about the world being chaotic.

The...Read more...

Each year as Jews, we spend three weeks grieving something that none of us have ever seen, touched, heard or experienced. Each year during this time, we don’t hold weddings and we don’t shave. The last nine days of the three weeks are much more intense when we don’t eat meat and we abstain from anything that’s risky. It’s odd that we grieve so intensely for the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s odd that we mourn this thing that has never...Read more...

In the State of Israel, the role of head of state is independent from the head of government. The head of the state is the president and the head of the government is the prime minister. It’s the Israeli version of the British parliamentary democracy. They have no “royal family” so the head of the state is a position that’s elected by the government term by term. This week, the Knesset elected the son of a former president for...Read more...