On the 9th of Av we also read the book of Lamentations, that terribly poignant description of the destruction of the First Temple written by Jeremiah, an eye-witness to the events he describes.

It was a little difficult to write about Celia Ulanovsky.  I knew her as a neighbor—as a lovely, modest, always pleasant, incredibly kind woman. But when I spoke to her, to get a bit of background, a little more of who she was, I was met with “Oh, there’s really nothing to say about me. Me? I […]

Numbers 27:12-23: “And G-d said to Moses, Go up to this Mt. Avarim and see the land that I have given to the Children of Israel.” So begins a moving dialogue between G-d and Moses towards the end of Moses’ life.

Yesterday was a fast day, the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, which ushers in a 3-week mourning period for the first and second temples, thousands of years ago.  Our sages have long laid the blame for the destruction of the Second Temple and the subsequent exile from the land, in the first and […]