A Banner Year Begins!

This month of Tishrei has been an exciting and surprise filled time, especially for our family and our work here in Israel.  It began with my annual pilgrimage for Rosh HaShana, for what was by the largest gathering ever, with crowd estimates as hi...

It is customary to begin, prior to the New Year, the challenging search for an exceptional etrog, (an etrog mehudar), for Sukkot. This year’s search is further complicated due to the prohibition of buying the current Shemita (Sabbatical) year’s produce. Fortunately, we...

Only in Israel!  Yesterday I was privy to attend a truly unique and inspiring gathering in the pastoral setting of Park Ayalon, the “Central Park” of our neighborhood here in Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph.  In addition to myself, there were well over 1,000 people in attenda...

This past Yom Kippur, was noteworthy in that it was a trifecta of Shabbatot:  Yom Kippur, which is called Shabbat Shabbaton (Sabbath of Sabbaths), coinciding with the weekly day of Shabbat, as well as the Sabbatical year of 5775.   This extremely rare confluence of the...

The Sfas Emes (the Gerrer Rebbe) asked why the mitzvah of remembering the crimes of Amalek    (זכור אשר עשה  לך עמלק )at the end of Parshas Ki Teizai is juxtaposed to the mitzvah of bikurim which appears at the beginning of Parshas Ki Tavo   (הבאת  ביכורים)?...

My Purim to Pesach “season” was a most inspiring one.  I had the privilege of traveling along with Nefesh B’Nefesh to visit six major Diaspora Jewish communities as a representative of the LaGur BaRama Development Company of Ramat Beit Shemesh.

Lagur Brama is building t...

One of the extraordinary gifts of the beginning of our second year of aliyah has been the excitement surrounding new horizons for us here in Ramat Beit Shemesh and for Ramat Beit Shemesh in general.  Beit Shemesh, is overwhelmingly one of Anglo olim’s primary target si...

One of the extraordinary gifts of the beginning of our second year of aliyah has been the excitement surrounding new horizons for us here in Ramat Beit Shemesh and for Ramat Beit Shemesh in general.  Beit Shemesh, despite all of its bad publicity, remains one of Anglo...