Libya lies in North Africa between Egypt and Tunisia and consists of Cyrenica and Tripoli. Even in the 3rd century before the Common Era, Cyrenica was a destination for Jewish emigration. Over the next century the Jewish population grew in…
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Seven Strategies for Surviving the Recession – Strategy 2 – Rabbi Paysach Krohn
by Rabbi Paysach Krohn • • 0 Comments
Strategy #2: Birchas HaMazon Sefer HaChinuch (#430, toward the end) says: “Anyone who is careful in Birchas HaMazon [the blessing after the meal] will have his sustenance come to him with honor his entire life.” If most of us were…
Can a ‘Lefty’ Rabbi Save Yeshivat Chovevei Torah?
by Harry Maryles • • 0 Comments
He calls himself a “Lefty”. Rabbi Asher Lopatin is most definitely on the left side of the Orthodox spectrum. I have at times been critical of some of the things the left has done and their Hashkafos. One of those…
The Chassid and the House Sparrow
by Rabbi Dovid B. Kaplan • • 0 Comments
[A couple of months ago] there was a house sparrow in my house. (They call them house sparrows for a reason.) As hard as it tried, it just kept bumping into the walls, and couldn’t seem to figure out how…
BEFORE THE DELUGE: THE JEWS OF CHINA II
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
The Zionist movement has a strong following in Shanghai. It manifests itself there via the monthly publication “Israel’s Messenger.” In Tientsin arose a colony of Jews in the beginning of the 1920s; they developed a cadre of dealers in smoking…
Seven Strategies for Surviving the Recession – Strategy 1 – Rabbi Paysach Krohn
by Rabbi Paysach Krohn • • 0 Comments
Strategy 1: Make That Connection The Meiri (to Nedarim 49b) says: “Even though a person is judged on Rosh Hashana regarding his livelihood (as well as his very life) he should pray every single day without fail for his livelihood.”…
Is Sake Kosher? Read for more….
by Rafael (Rafi) Hecht • • 0 Comments
One of my former co-workers who is Japanese introduced Sake (Japanese rice wine/beer) without a Hechsher. The question posed was “why?” All ingredients are natural, however, since all ingredients are “Kosher” and the utensils are (presumably) only used for rice…
Tales of Yore – Rabbi Joselman of Rosheim e-Book for Sale
by Rafael (Rafi) Hecht • • 2 Comments
The much older generation remembers somehow getting a hold of a volume of the Jewish Pocketbook Series. One of the hardest to find but most popular was that of Rabbi Joselman (Yosselman) of Rosheim, a highly influential German Rabbi in…
Be Like Hillel, Not Like Shammai: Lesson on Experience and Wisdom
by Rafael (Rafi) Hecht • • 0 Comments
A fundamental precept of Judaism is illustrated by the following story in the Talmud [Shabbos 31A]. A gentile approached Shammai and said to him: “Convert me but teach me the entire Torah as I stand on one foot.” Shammai, feeling…
Hanna’s War from VHS Video into DVD
by Rafael (Rafi) Hecht • • 3 Comments
One of the Holocaust videos I watched as a child really stayed with me until today. The movie, like many, was far from a best-seller (there will only be one Schindler’s List), but I believe it was immortalized in video…