David Derovan

Apply for a Blog

Apr 23, 2020, 4:03 PM

Speaking of Which . . .

Once upon a time, way back when there were prophets who stood on boxes in the town square and preached, when there was a Temple in Jerusalem where we visited three times a year, God was an openly, active...

Feb 13, 2020, 5:40 PM

Who’s More Important? Me or Us?

Think of toddlers. They learn to walk. They learn to talk. And among the first words they learn is “mine!” It takes a while to teach them how to share. It takes even longer to teach them how to feel...

Feb 5, 2020, 4:50 PM

My father’s favorite line: ‘You shut up!’

My late father’s favorite line from the Torah appears in this week’s Torah reading: “God will fight for you! You shut-up!” (Shemot 14:14) It isn’t the expletive at the end that caught my father’s fancy. Rather, he understood that...

Feb 2, 2020, 12:57 PM

A Memo to Donald Trump

Dear Mr. President, Your “Deal of the Century” has made quite a splash here in my neighborhood, the State of Israel. While it offers the Israelis and the Palestinians an intriguing deal, it is based on a particularly flawed premise. As...

Jul 31, 2014, 12:34 PM

Don’t Negotiate! Threaten!

When people begin to lose their memory, we begin to suspect senility. Are we all becoming senile? Not too long ago, there was a consensus that “we,” meaning governments and government agencies, do not negotiate with terrorists. Think of...

Jul 25, 2014, 2:58 PM

Parashat Masa-ay: Journeys

Parashat Masa’ay begins by listing the forty-two journeys that the Jews took from Egypt to the border of Eretz Yisra'el. Reb Shmu’el of Sochachov points out that the number 42 is significant. There are 42 words in the first...

Jul 20, 2014, 3:39 PM

The World Does Not Understand

The world does not understand. We, the citizens of Israel, are faced with an enemy that is uncivilized and barbaric. When the Hamas won the election in Gaza, their “soldiers” threw Fatah members off of rooftops with their hands...

Load more

About Me

David Derovan lives in Israel with his growing family. He recently published "Tales of Mystery, Magic and Chassidim," fictional tales in which the Rebbe teaches authentic Chassidic wisdom. Available on Amazon.com. Now retired, David has taught Torah for over 50 years, on all educational levels except pre-school.

Contact Me