In these days of Political Correctness, ancient paths have been abandoned for the confusion of rocky roads. Identity theft has absconded with biblically rooted gender roles, and the distinctive callings of men and women have morphed into muddled manifestations of sexuality and relationship. Fuzzy perceptions about the callings of men and women often accompany fuzzy […]
Slot-machines from a previous generation had a large metal handle on their right side. When this lever was pulled down, the one-armed bandit either swallowed your silver dollars or coughed up a trifling jackpot. For the rare winner, victory bells would ring on the machine and three cherries would line up on the glass-covered panel. […]
Over 2,400 years ago the Spirit of prophecy fell on Zechariah as he declared “the burden of the word of YHVH concerning Israel – It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem an overly hard-to-lift stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will be severely injured” (Zechariah 12:3). Since that day many nations […]
Yuletide is upon us. Dark evergreen trees are bejeweled with winking lights. Manger scenes and crèches (where still legal) remind us of Jesus, Joseph and Mary – as well as of the pot of overflowing presents at the end of the Christmas rainbow. As we deck the halls with boughs of holly and peppermint sticks, […]
The Jewish Feast of Lights arrives this year on the eve of December 2 (according to the Gregorian calendar). The Hebrew name for Hanukkah (‘Dedication’) refers to the cleansing and re-dedication of the Second Temple by Jewish special forces on the 25th of Kislev 165 BC. In the Western world Hanukkah is often overshadowed and […]
The Sabbath murder of eleven Jewish men and women in Pittsburgh caught many by surprise. Robert Bowers, a 46 year old neo-Nazi racist who posted anti-Jewish and anti-Trump conspiracy theories on the web, walked in to the Tree of Life-Or L’simcha synagogue in the Squirrel Hill district and unloaded clips from a semi-automatic rifle and […]