News and Reflections

News from the Land

My Journey Down Under

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 As I write this newsletter, I am in New Zealand, towards the end of a more than 2-week speaking tour "down under." I had a wonderful time in Australia, as meeting after meeting surpassed my expectations. The audiences were warm and supportive...

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Reflections from Israel

Our Emotional Visit to the Bet Hagai Youth Village

The Bet Hagai Youth Village is an extraordinary project that was undertaken by its pioneering founders as a way of strengthening Israeli society. The village provides loving group homes and house parents for teenage boys, many of whom come broken in spirit and from broken homes.  Bet Hagai enables them to enter adulthood with hope and a healing of their souls.

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Reflections from Israel

Who Will Go?

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 This last trip to Israel was amazing. It was short, fast-moving, and full of energizing contacts as I visited some of the communities that CFOIC works with in Judea and Samaria. Each stop was a blessing, a testimony of the goodness of our...

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News from the Land

The Hatred That Continues…

Tuesday, February 2, 2016 For months now, terrorism has been raging in Israel.  Not the sort of terrorism we encountered 15 years ago when every other day there were massive attacks and scores of people were murdered each month.  Then, you never knew where the bomb...

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News from the Land

We’re Having a Wedding!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016 I was chatting with Kim Troup yesterday by phone and she mentioned to me that the news coming out of Israel was just consistently bad — terrorist attack after terrorist attack, a massive manhunt to apprehend the terrorist who murdered two...

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News from the Land

Solidarity with Israel Today

November 3, 2015 As I was driving home from meeting a group in Har Bracha this evening, I heard an interesting news item on Israeli radio. Walmart, the giant American department store chain, was selling costumes for Halloween last week, including a costume of an...

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News from the Land

Facing Terrorism, Again

October 8, 2015 Let’s start with the good news.  It rained today, a bountiful heavy rain, all over the country.  First rain of the season!  It is customary in Jewish congregations all over the world to pray for rain on Simchat Torah, the last day of the Feast of...

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