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“A Seed of a Cactus” – is the literal translation of “Garin Tzabar”, the IDF lone soldier program. “Garin” can also mean ‘a core group’, but as native born Israelis are often referred to as “sabres” (cactus), I’m beginning to … Continue reading →

Who’s in charge of holiness (k’dusha) in the world? G-d or people? In this week’s reading, we are introduced to the Shmita, the sabbatical year. The Torah Sabbatical year is not about crop rotation. It’s about the land having its … Continue reading →

Shul can be a very relaxing, even soporific experience and so it happened, once upon a time, that Joe-Shmo was a little sleepy during the Torah reading. He woke up just to hear the reader chant the words: “And you … Continue reading →

We tend to think of “love your neighbor as yourself” as a Biblical commandment that “makes sense”, while, for example, that of “sha’atnez”, the prohibition to mix wool and linen in the same garment, as a “chok”, a law which … Continue reading →