Sholom Rothman

Never Stop Growing

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Sep 2, 2024, 12:05 PM

Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog’s arrival in ‘Palestine’

My father, Rabbi Yaacov Moshe (Morris J.) Rothman travelled as a 17 year old from Brooklyn, New York, to Eretz Yisrael to study for four years at the Hevron Yeshiva (then located in Jerusalem). I have just become aware that...

Jan 12, 2023, 1:03 AM

Simcha Rotem – Warsaw Ghetto Hero – Postscript

Six years ago I wrote an email to my friends about a Jewish hero that I was fortunate to have met. An excerpt of it follows: I had heard a few weeks ago that in our community, just down the...

Oct 9, 2022, 5:57 AM

May his memory be blessed

Our small shul in Jerusalem is comprised of a group of eclectic characters - but aren't many shuls like that? One of our most memorable congregants is Benjie, an old time Israeli, who always greets his compatriots with a...

Jun 29, 2022, 5:35 PM

Make Checkmate, Not War

I noticed him early that evening. I was waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the chess tournament to begin, while the organizer was signing in the last few late entrants. Most were speaking to him in Hebrew, a few older ones in...

Mar 26, 2022, 10:17 PM

We Run and We Run

The rain was coming down in buckets, the cold was intense, and the wind was biting. And there I stood under a small overhang, huddled with some 10 other would-be runners, waiting for the Jerusalem Half- Marathon to start....

Nov 3, 2021, 10:36 PM

Running to Join the Army

I first came to Israel for a year, to learn in a yeshiva, when I was 19 years old. The summer before my studies began, I spent a lot of time walking around Yerushalayim and touring the country, and...

Sep 30, 2021, 9:58 AM

70 is just a number

When I was growing up in the 1950's and 60's, I didn't know that running was a sport. I played baseball, basketball and football in school, but no one I knew ever ran for recreation. When I was 40 years...

Jan 27, 2021, 7:35 PM

Water parks are more fun

In my most recent blog, I looked forward to returning to our old routines post-vaccination. This Tuesday marked two weeks subsequent to the second vaccination my wife, Iris, and I received. The following is a first-person account by my...

Dec 19, 2020, 11:47 PM

It's been a long nine months - a very long and difficult nine months. Being over 60 years old, having a health condition, and wishing to follow the ever changing Ministry of Health regulations, my wife and I have been...

Oct 15, 2020, 9:25 PM

Protect Yourself, Protect Others

I get it. I really do. As we are into our eighth month of the pandemic, we are all weary of the rules. We are tired of social distancing, or being careful not to be indoors with a big crowd, and...

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About Me

I studied in Jerusalem for a year when I was 19 years old, and developed a love for Israel and especially Jerusalem. It took me over 40 years to finally fulfill my life's dream and make Aliyah to Jerusalem. I had been a computer programmer for 37 years, but now, after retirement, study full time in yeshiva, and was granted Semicha two years ago.

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