“Even if we are all wise men, all understanding people, and we all know the Torah — we have been given a mitzva (religious commandment) to tell about the redemption from Egypt.” The above is a well-known passage from the ‘Hagadda of Pesach’ – the traditional text read and spoken by millions of Jews every […]

I had a long correspondence with someone, about the Jewish concept of ‘chain of tradition‘. One specific argument mentioned had to do with how impossible (or difficult) it is to fool “wise” people (whatever ‘wise’ means). This was part of a bigger claim, trying to explain that old traditions must be true, especially given that […]

I love blues. The music that is. I can listen to long programs playing this genre. Friends of mine love different kinds of art: Some like to visit the theater, others do sculpting. There are even those who go to the opera, god forbid. There is one thing in common with all of the above. […]

New Year’s Eve is named “Sylvester’s Day” in some countries, Israel included. The reason has to do with Pope Sylvester I who presumably died in December 31, almost two millennia ago. According to one legend, it appears that Mr. Sylvester was not so kind to the Jews. The contemporary outcome is a major ban by […]

For tens of millions of years the Tethys Ocean covered the reef and its neighbors. “Cretaceous” – this is how we use to name this era. Millions of generations of dinosaurs roamed the distances somewhere, and even more generations of old crabs and shellfish were born, lived and died in the reef. Millions of grandfathers […]

Yesterday I saw a movie about Ireland in the beginning of the previous century (“Jimmy’s Hall”, recommended). True it had also some political contents, left-right and all that, but lots of religious stuff. You’re “evil” if you’re “anti-Christ”. You’re banned from society if you don’t believe Jesus is the son of God. The beginning of […]

A hypothetical situation: I am going downstairs to throw away the garbage. The alarm siren is heard again. A Hamas rocket hits the apartment upstairs. I am saved – I wasn’t in the apartment. Now, should I thank God? (Alternatively, should I thank my good luck?) Here are two different reasons for why not: Firstly, […]

Last Saturday, while walking in some known Israeli town, I couldn’t help noticing the renowned pattern of an El Al plane passing above in the sky. An El Al airplane? On Saturday? For a moment I thought the Messiah was already here, and then I remembered the old airline trick of “On Tuesday my name […]

About six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The ‘Shoa’ – as it is called in Hebrew – is a true terrible historical event which we all know. Many of the survivors still live among us, some carry on their skin the mark of the death camps. There is plenty of documentation in the […]

Our mind has evolved to grasp the world as having absolute rules and definitive purposes. In our day-to-day life – things must have well-defined locations, events must occur at well-understood times, movements have clear directions. The reasons for this tendency are easy to explain. For millions of years, our survival has been depending on a […]