Manny Behar

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Dec 6, 2023, 12:42 PM

The stakes are high at Hillcrest High School

Last week, a large group of students vandalized their own school trying to attack a Jewish teacher who attended the rally for Israel in Washington DC. Some public officials like Mayor Eric Adams and Attorney General Tish James condemned...

Nov 21, 2023, 6:39 PM

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder

This week’s Torah reading begins with the story of Jacob’s dream of the ladder ascending to heaven and the angels going up and down. At the end of the dream, G-d speaks to him. It is a promise to...

Nov 16, 2023, 9:17 PM

A lioness of Israel: Remembering Sgt. Rose Lubin

Rose Lubin excelled at anything she put her mind to. She left a comfortable life in the suburbs of Atlanta because she knew where she had to be. After literally saving hundreds of lives on Simchat Torah, she was...

Nov 2, 2023, 11:30 PM

Resilience, Not Victimhood

This week’s Torah portion tells of the binding of Isaac. Its lesson for today is that the Jewish people are defined not by victimhood but by resilience. “G-d put Abraham to the test (Genesis 22:1).” It is with those words...

Oct 30, 2023, 5:59 PM

At what price redemption?

There are over 220 Jews being held as hostages in Gaza. Each of those precious Jewish souls is of infinite value. Bringing them home is a halachic imperative and a stated objective of Israel’s operation in Gaza. But a...

Oct 24, 2023, 5:11 PM

The Next Step: A Plea for Wisdom

I feel like I am in the eye of the hurricane. Life in Jerusalem, in the aftermath of the Simchat Torah massacre is seemingly quiet and back to normal. Yet the worst of the storm may still be ahead...

Oct 19, 2023, 11:50 PM

Teshuva, tefilla, tzedaka: Your role in the battle

It is just over a week since the Simchat Torah Massacre. I need not describe what happened. You have no doubt read about it elsewhere. What we need to understand clearly is that what Hamas did on Simchat Torah...

Oct 9, 2023, 8:45 PM

Lighting the Darkest Hour

50 years ago, I was learning at Kerem B’Yavneh, a hesder yeshiva, where Israeli students divided their time between learning at the yeshiva and military service. On the morning of Yom Kippur, we heard planes flying over the yeshiva,...

Dec 8, 2022, 4:37 AM

Accomodation Or Confrontation?

The experiences of our ancestors can offer valuable lessons for today. What can we learn from this week's parsha's description of the encounter between Jacob and Esau. Nehama Leibowitz has pointed out that our sages disagreed over whether Jacob was right in...

Aug 3, 2022, 4:29 PM

Kamtza & Bar Kamtza revisited

As we remember the many tragedies that befell the Jewish people on Tisha B’Av, the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza (Gittin 55B – 56A) is often cited as an example of how baseless hatred caused the destruction of...

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About Me

Manny Behar is the Former Executive Director of the Queens Jewish Community Council and was a senior aide to several public officials. He currently lives in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem