Am Yisrael Chai: It’s not a slogan, it is a way of life
I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn singing the Am Yisrael Chai chant, we’d sing it with great excitement and with great pride. And then I remember myself as a young adult, growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, always ending my talks, and my social media posts,…
Tikun Israel precedes Tikun Olam
A New-Old Approach At this very moment Am Yisrael finds itself at an intersection of existential proportions. October 7th, 2023…
Movement of The People
What was once “Never Again”, is happening again except this time around it is different. Unlike our ancestors who confronted humanity’s worse for 2,000 years, 1948 ushered in a new reality—Israel. The manifestation of the age-old dream to return and be free in our home, l’hiyot am chofshi b’artzeinu, is a game changer and we are holding on for dear life.
Community Update: Rabbi Leor Sinai US Speaking Tour
Rabbi Leor Sinai, US Speaking Tour Rabbi Leor Sinai is a Global Speaker, Education Diplomacy Thought-Leader, and long-time Zionist…
On MLK Day: Zionism and Tikun Israel
In 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream that “…this nation (US) will rise up and live out…
English Followed by the Hebrew ב”ה שבת תשובה, פרשת וילך תשפ“ב הימים האחרונים של משה רבנו הם מרגשים, ומעלים מחשבות לגבי המסע של כל אחד מאיתנו. משה מסביר לעם ישראל:”… בֶּן-מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אָנֹכִי הַיּוֹם–לֹא-אוּכַל עוֹד לָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא; וַאלוקים אָמַר אֵלַי, לֹא תַעֲבֹר אֶת-הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה.” אף על פי זה שמשה הוביל את בני ישראל מעבדות…
English followed by the Hebrew: משפחה וחברים יקרים: אם חודש אלול חודש של סליחות, חודש של תקיעה בשופר יומית (במשנה ברורה: נוהגים לקום באשמורת לומר סליחות ותחנונים מראש חודש אלול ואילך עד יום הכיפורים – הגה: מנהג בני אשכנז אינו כן, מתחילין לתקוע בשופר מראש חודש ואילך) עובר עלינו תקופה של חשבון נפש והיתעוררות –…
The only biblical references to this period of these Days of Awe, beginning with Rosh HaShanna, we are about to enter is found in Leviticus/VaYikra 23:23, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of horns,…
The Hamas rocket assault is bad for Palestinians and Israelis alike TEL AVIV — When it started, we heard the children’s school was going virtual again that day. Coronavirus again? No, rockets — 250 had been fired into Israel from Gaza overnight. By that evening, we were in the bomb shelter, as rockets were flying to Tel Aviv.…
We continue to commit such a disservice to our youth, putting them on the frontline to fight for our right to exist, carrying the weight of 2,000 years of exile, when they themselves don’t even know the aleph-bet of their own existence – let alone – Israel’s. Why should a teenager on their way to…
Living a Jewish life includes doing “Jewish things”, infused with purpose, values and memories (i.e. “we were slaves in Egypt” and what that means from a practical and conceptual worldview). Passover, a microcosm of Jewish life, exists within a set of guidelines in preparation for the festival of redemption including the cleaning of Hametz and…