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Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jun 23, 2026, 10:05 AM

The Origins of Rosh Tzurim and Gvaot

Bilam’s first bracha (Bamidbar 23:7-10) declares: “From Aram, Balak, King of Moav brought me, out of the mountains of the east saying, ‘Come curse Yaakov for me. Go denounce Yisrael.’ How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How...

Barry Kislowicz

Feb 25, 2026, 2:13 PM

Whose Children Are They?

Inclusion Costs Time—and We Have to Fund It.

Jan 10, 2026, 11:43 AM

WOW: Special in Uniform, Special in Values

Photo Credits: Sabine Sterk (AI)

There are moments when a single word is enough. Not a slogan, not a political statement, not a defense but a reaction from the heart. For me, that word is WOW. Not because Israel is perfect, not because the...

Binyamin Krauss

Dec 30, 2025, 5:04 AM

Who Are Our Jewish Day Schools For?

Jewish day schools were not founded to be boutique institutions. They were built to serve a community. That distinction matters, especially now. Across Jewish communities, parents are making difficult, often painful calls. Their children have learning differences. Or social-emotional challenges. Or...

Dec 25, 2025, 9:14 PM

Israel’s Fringiest Group

Gevaot Coffee Shop
(https://mizrachi.ca/vendor/sadnat-shiluv/)

I recently visited the Israeli community of Gevaot. As you enter, a warm breeze hits your face and the quiet settles in. Modest homes line the paths, neighbors passing one another without hurry. Only two places break the calm:...

Nov 24, 2025, 7:54 AM

Israel: A Messy Miracle Worth Loving

Photo Credits: Sabine Sterk (AI)

Israel is not a country you fall in love with because it’s perfect, infar from it. Israel is a country you love because it is alive. Imperfect, loud, chaotic, brimming with soul, overflowing with contradictions, and glowing with a...

Nov 23, 2025, 6:57 AM

The Grammar of Empathy: A Maternal Reading of Simon Baron-Cohen’s Framework

Zero Degrees of Empathy by Simon Baron-Cohen

For mothers navigating the delicate terrain of neurodivergent parenting, empathy has always been less about affect and more about structure. Long before Simon Baron-Cohen introduced the concept of zero-positive empathy, our lives unfolded in the margins, beyond sentiment and...

Mar 9, 2025, 7:09 AM

Be Prepared: Lessons from Purim and the Boy Scouts

59th Boy Scout Troop, Toronto, Canada (1968). David Matlow is third from left, and Barry Simon is first from the right. Photograph by Esther Matlow, used with permission.

The Boy Scout movement was founded in England in 1907 by Lord Baden-Powell, a British general and Boer War hero. Its purpose is to contribute to the full physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual development of young people and...

Sep 27, 2024, 11:08 PM

Israeli Rehab Village: Connections With German Town and Nazi Descendants

German Volunteer Setti Pfeiffer at Adi Negev with child

Evil swarmed into Israel last October 7. The brutality, destruction and anguish have been unending. Like the biblical Joseph, abandoned in a viper-infested pit, we seek humanity and hope. The unlikely, interconnected stories of a unique rehabilitation village in Israel’s...

Jul 1, 2024, 12:33 AM

Lessons from the Graduates

Tomer (Left) Max (Right) at graduation.

Graduation day generates tears and cheers for teachers. On the one hand, teachers celebrate their students’ completion of academic requirements. On the other hand, teachers say farewell to a group of beloved students. Although teachers encounter this bittersweet experience...

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