The Festival of Chanukah falls in the Hebrew month of Kislev. Shorter days and longer nights symbolize spiritual darkness and it’s our job to bring spiritual light back into the world during this season. Two thousand two hundred years ago Read more
Detail from a mosaic from a public building in the mixed Jewish/Roman village of Tzipori (Sephorris). Roman and Greek culture was everywhere. There have been two basic strategies to destroy the Jewish People throughout history. 1. KILL US The most Read more
Jacob’s brother Esau was also called Edom… and the Sages tell us that Edom is Rome. No wonder so much of our Jewish history is intertwined with a love/hate relationship with Rome and its descendants who try to take control Read more
Archeologists Restoring the Synagogue in Korazim. This building was used at the time that the Mishna was complete and the Talmud was being redacted in nearby Tiberias. The basalt village is perched on a hill high above the Kinneret and Read more
We love stir fry and we love ginger. This recipe is easy to prepare and the secret is frying the ingredients separately… and using the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil around! It is very forgiving and you can substitute other Read more
Esav (Esau) and Yaakov (Jacob) were twins. The first to be born was Esav, and he came out red (adom), and hairy all over, therefore they called his name Esav (Asui means fully formed). (Gen 26:25) Later, when he grows Read more
The Torah portion of Chaiye Sarah begins with our Matriarch Sarah’s death and Avraham purchasing the Machpelah Cave in Hebron as a family burial plot. (Chaiye Sarah Gen: 23) The Torah goes into great detail about the negotiations between Avraham Read more
Eggplants are plentiful and inexpensive in local Israeli markets, so they become a staple in local restaurants and at most home meals especially over Shabbat. If you’ve ever been to Israel and sat down at a restaurant that starts out Read more
The rain this week cleared the air in the Galilee and you could see all the way to Mount Hermon on the Syrian border. I snapped this photo across the street from our apartment in Tiberias. That is the mystical Read more
One of our subscribers shared this lovely photo of Jerusalem on her FB page. (I think she did it by mistake). It is from a Palestinian Arab propaganda site called “Days of Palestine” and the captions says, “Good morning from Read more