RJ Blog

by Rabbi Paul Kipnes (originally posted at Or Am I?) It all started with Consecration.  In celebration of the beginning of their formal Jewish education, these cute kindergartners ascend to the bimah to stand before the aron kodesh (holy ark) to receive a mini-Torah from the hands of their parents. Nervousness surrounds us as children wonder where to stand, as parents step forward unsure of how to guide them.  Still, smiles mingle with tears as we watch our babies continue to grow up. And we bless, shehecheyanu, thanking God for getting us to this special day.  Then we stand again on the [...]

By Hanan Cidor, KESHER Shaliach First published in It’s an Israel Thing Although I’m currently in Israel, it seems as if there was no escape this week from the leading story in the world media about the military operation currently undergoing in the Hamas controlled Gaza strip. Truth be told, and maybe that’s very fitting to an Israeli, I’ve changed my mind about this operation more than once ever since it started Saturday morning. The basic excuse to start this whole thing is justified in my eyes. For the past seven years, the last three being after Israel has disengaged [...]

By Hanan Cidor, KESHER Shaliach First published in It’s an Israel Thing In a very unordinary interview with, who I guess you could say is not a very ordinary man, resigning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made some relatively dramatic proclamations regarding his view of Israel’s future in the coming years. Olmert basically stated in his otherwise dull traditional holiday interview that it is his belief that Israel will eventually have to let go of most if not all of what is regarded as the “occupied territories” of Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in order to [...]