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Jun 30, 2026, 11:51 AM

About Tzelofehad’s sons who were learning in a yeshiva … (Parshat Pinhas)

Parshat Pinhas opens with the Almighty’s appreciation of Pinhas, who had taken it upon himself to serve as a proxy for God’s jealous rage over the spreading popularity of pagan Pe’or worship among the Israelites. By murdering Zimri ben...

Jun 21, 2026, 4:29 PM

Choosing to curse when a blessing would be so much more effective (Balak)

וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר I will bless those who bless you and will curse those who curse you Bereishit /Genesis12:3 כִּ֣י יָדַ֗עְתִּי אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁר־תְּבָרֵךְ֙ מְבֹרָ֔ךְ וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּאֹ֖ר יוּאָֽר׃ For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse will be...

Jun 16, 2026, 11:34 AM

‘Talmudolatry’ – the root of today’s Haredi crisis?

Against the backdrop of an ongoing and increasingly violent war of terror being waged by the Haredi community against the State and the citizens of Israel, a critical question is not being asked. Haredim argue that they are the avatars...

Jun 15, 2026, 4:52 AM

The Red Heifer: The purity of a newborn nation, and a water emergency

The purification ritual known as Parah Adumah, using the ashes of a red heifer, is considered the Torah’s greatest mystery. No explanation is given, nor is there any inherent logic to this exotic ceremony. Especially bizarre is the fact...

Jun 7, 2026, 5:29 PM

Vayaturu (מרגלים) Lo Taturu (שמע) mean the same (Postscript to Parshat Shelah)

In the past I have suggested that the episode of the meraglim, the spies whom Moshe sent at God’s behest to reconnoiter the Promised Land were being intentionally set up for failure. My reasoning was straightforward: To begin with, there...

Jun 5, 2026, 6:24 PM

Would the Torah declare Haredim ineligible to vote? (Parshat Shelah)

... תּוֹרָ֥ה אַחַ֛ת וּמִשְׁפָּ֥ט אֶחָ֖ד יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם וְלַגֵּ֖ר הַגָּ֥ר אִתְּכֶֽם The same rule and the same law shall apply to you and to the alien who resides among you. Bamidbar/Number 15:15-16 Such thinking was considered radically innovative in 1776 when the United...

May 25, 2026, 7:35 PM

About that Shortage of Meat in the Desert, and Yitro Redux (Beha’alotekha)

But first a sad joke: One of the many, many, many, many, indeed far too many little Hasidic rebbelech wanted to impress his congregation by proving that Hanukkah is actually hinted at in the Torah, in this week’s parsha. ”Our...

May 18, 2026, 6:12 PM

Holy Temple: A contradiction in terms? (Parshat Naso)

I have long argued that the Mishkan, the Tent of Assembly, that was so aesthetically, rigorously and meticulously crafted in the desert was never meant to be either temporary or fixed base. The effort involved, the costliness of the...

May 10, 2026, 6:49 PM

Were there haredi yeshivas during our 40 years in the desert? (Bamidbar)

Do they even bother to read Parshat Bamidbar in haredi yeshivot and synagogues? If so, do they pay attention to what is being read? The verse לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל גְּדִ֖י בַּֽחֲלֵ֥ב אִמּֽוֹ "you shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk"...

May 4, 2026, 11:14 AM

Re-inventing the Sabbatical for our era (Behar-Behukotai)

דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כִּ֤י תָבֹ֙אוּ֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י נֹתֵ֣ן לָכֶ֑ם וְשָׁבְתָ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ שַׁבָּ֖ת לַיהֹוָֽה׃ Speak to the Children of Israel and tell them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe God’s...

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About Me

J.J Gross is a veteran copywriter and creative director who made aliyah in 2007 from New York. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the son of Holocaust survivors from Hungary and Slovakia. After making aliyah he served as a volunteer police officer in Jerusalem for five years ending his service as a sergeant. His only son is a reserve major in the IDF

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