The origin of this fast has always been a mystery. A fast on the 13th of Adar is not mentioned in the book of Esther.

I have to thank my dear parents, may they rest in peace, for many things. I must especially thank them for having chosen to provide

When I was young I was an avid reader of novels. As I’ve grown older, I have found myself more interested in good biographies. I

In this week’s Parsha, Yitro, Moshe’s father in law, solves the problem of judicial congestion. Yitro, a foreigner from the land of Midyan, suggests that

It may well be—after Joseph’s famine relief planning agency—the next most crucial creation of a government bureaucracy in history. Yisro teaches Moses that he can’t

It is a familiar domestic scene, one that we have all experienced. The family is about to leave on a well-deserved long vacation. All the

Since back in early autumn, when we began reading the Book of Genesis in the synagogue, we have been reading one long story. It has

In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. What happened that day was anything but routine.

Executive Vice President, Emeritus of the Orthodox Union Can you sleep at night? There is so much trouble in the world. Violence, wars large and

I’ve always been impressed by something my grandfather told me many years ago. I believe he quoted the following in the name of Rabbi Israel

Put yourself, for a moment, in Yosef’s place. You have just revealed your true identity to your brothers. An identity that for the past 22

In one of the most moving monologues in the Bible, Yehuda stands before Yosef and takes complete responsibility for his brother Binyamin; he spares no