Category: Science and Health

Is it halakhically permitted to recite L’Hadlik Ner (Shel) Hanukkah – To Kindle the Hanukkah Light – over an electric menorah? In his book Mayim Hayim, Rabbi Yosef Messas not only permits the use of an electric menorah, but writes that it’s arguably the finest way to fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the Hanukkah lights. […]

Man Attacks Northern CA Elementary School, Wanted “Child Sacrifices” Over “Genocide” Against Palestinians A man shot and injured two kindergarteners at a Christian school in Butte County, CA because he reportedly wanted “child sacrifices” in response to the United States’s involvement in the ongoing war “genocide” against Palestinians. According to Patch, the shooter, identified as […]

“Autocratic regimes use brutality to eliminate any hope their populace may have for a different future,” Anne Appelbaum writes in The Atlantic, in the wake of the removal of one of the region’s most brutal dictators in Syria. Indeed, while many around the world are “celebrating” this development, Appelbaum’s colleague Graeme Wood adds a word […]

Syrian rebels declared the end of President Bashar Assad’s 24-year rule on Sunday after a swift offensive brought opposition forces into Damascus. Thousands of residents gathered in the city’s main square, chanting “Freedom” and celebrating what many view as the conclusion of five decades of Assad family dominance. Assad reportedly fled the capital by plane […]

Some of us find ourselves parting from dear people around us. We watch how slowly they are fading away, and we know that soon they will not be here. They take part of us with them because we love them. Krishna Murthi, the Indian mystic, was once asked to visit a dying friend. “I am […]

Evidently, you don’t need to be Jewish or Israeli any longer to get your film attacked by Jew haters. If you dare make Israel look good, that’s enough to get you cancelled. For this latest outrage in the global march to single out the Jewish state, we can thank the international film festival in Belgium. […]

With the month of Kislev underway, we turn our attention to Hanukkah, our holiday of light and heroism. December, 1948. The State of Israel is seven months old, recovering from the War of Independence that claimed 6,500 lives. The heroes who defended Israel – the men and women of the newly established Israel Defense Forces […]

In Israel a discussion is being held about … well, one must be careful with words. Let’s try to state this with utmost caution: There is a discussion about ways to somehow reduce the number of Palestinians in Gaza without using violence. And again, we must tread carefully. A year ago, Minister Avi Dichter said, […]

It’s 1:30 am and I’m sitting in Leah’s room. I just gave juice and Greg is preparing a new cartridge of diluted insulin and redoing the pump settings. At 12:40 am we were startled awake by the familiar – but always nerve-wracking – beeps of continuous glucose monitor alarms. As familiar as they are, my […]

Rabbi Chaim Mentz of Chabad of Bel Air traveled to Israel twice after Oct. 7 to show support. On one of his trips, he donated 5,400 NIS (approximately $1,450 U.S. dollars) to 36 young widows. He also visited Beit Halochem hospital, where he witnessed hundreds of wounded soldiers, many in their 20s and facing life-altering […]