Rabbi Ruben Suiza is head of the Sefardic community of Cape Town, South Africa. A little over a month ago, Rabbi Suiza’s wife Deborah, began receiving E Mails from another Rabbi no less, demanding roughly the equivalent of $4,500 U.S.D. Otherwise, the extortionist henceforth to be referred to as the “Blackmailer Rebbe” would make it public that Rabbi Suiza was […]
I have no idea whatsoever, how many Americans took any time last week to learn about and reflect upon what took place seventy years ago in Normandy. I have great concern however, that of those who did, precious few if any, were able to extrapolate from the events of June 6, 1944, otherwise known as D Day, to gain a […]
This morning we woke up early, checked out if the hostel, and headed out for a scenic drive from Beit Shean to kibbutz Misgav Am. This kibbutz sits on a mountain top nearly 10 yards (sometimes less) from Israel’s Lebanese border. There we learned about past conflicts that Israel and especially the kibbutz had with their Hezbollah Lebanese neighbors. In […]
This past Shabbat in our Beit Shean hostel was amazing. After a beautiful Kabbalah Shabbat full of carlebach tunes, all of the guests in the hostel sat down together for the Friday night meal. When we finished the delicious dinner the whole dining room sounded with Shabbat shirim. To entertain ourselves for the rest of the night, we played a […]
This morning we woke up earlier than usual so we could drive to Masada. After a two hour drive from Jerusalem, we finally arrived at the huge mountain and took the cable car up. Stepping out of the tram we were greeted by thousands of rocks and strong gusts of wind. We explored the mountain and found huge cisterns with […]
I would never wake up at 4am in the morning, but on Shavuot it’s a different story. After going to bed after a late Shavuot dinner, we woke up at 3:30am and walked to the kotel. On our way there hundreds of Jews wearing anything from jeans to Chassidic garb joined us. By the time we arrived at the wall […]
For the record, I greatly admire Pope Francis. I have great respect for him. As far as I’m concerned, Pope Francis is as genuine as they come. He appears not to be trapped by the trappings of his office and his ego is quite unlike that of many of his predecessors, however humble pontiffs of the past may have appeared […]
