News and Reflections
L’Shana Tova (Happy New Year!)
Tuesday, October 11, 2016 Yesterday and the day before were Rosh HaShanah — the Jewish New Year. It is both a joyous and a serious time of year. Beginning a full month before the holiday, we spend time reflecting on our actions and omissions of the past year and...
Shabbat — the most important symbol of Jewish identity?
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 September is here and with it comes so many new beginnings. School starts on the 1st of September and children begin pre-school or school on that day. Often Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, also begins in September but this...
I Will Give this Land to Your Children
Tuesday August 2, 2016 Summer is raging in Israel. And that is a good thing. I love the summer months. I love the heat, the sun, the warm air enveloping me and reminding me how beautiful this country is. I walk out of my house in the morning and see the sun...
Changing Realities Create Unexpected Opportunities
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 I spent last week in the UK on a speaking tour. I met people and addressed audiences in England, Scotland and Wales and enjoyed every minute of it (except the cold rainy weather of course!) But arriving in Great Britain just 2 days...
The Politics of Israel – The What and The Who
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 This has been a very political few weeks in Israel and I know many of our friends outside of Israel find it difficult to keep it all straight. So I thought I would try and clarify things a bit. A year ago, there were national elections...
The Lies That Surround Us
Tuesday, May 4 ,2016 A top news story today focused on recent statements by members of the British Labor Party against Israel. One after the other, these politicians said some of the most horrible and anti-Semitic things about Israel and the Jewish people. There...
Can We No Longer Discuss the Morality of Incidents?
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 Yesterday a group of students from NYU, an American university in New York City, came to visit Karnei Shomron. They were on a semester in Israel program and as part of a course on religion and politics, they were interested in how religious...
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...
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.
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...
