From the heart, to the heart

If you see your fellow Jew traveling down a self-destructive path, and you seek to set him straight but fail, the fault is yours. The reasoning behind this conclusion is both profound and simple. Our sages have declared that "words that come from the heart enter the heart." So if your words did not enter his heart, this can only mean that they were not spoken in complete sincerity. Had you been truly sincere--had you spoken with no objective in mind other than his good--your words would have entered his heart and would have had their desired effect.

Emulating Aaron

The importance of emulating Aaron is demonstrated in this week’s parsha in the encounter between Moshe, Aaron and Pharaoh. Aaron "loved peace and pursued peace, loved mankind and drew them closer to Torah.

When necessity dictates that we deal in a strict manner with others as Moshe and Aaron did with Pharaoh in Va'eira, we must always make sure that we employ "the staff of Aaron" - and are guided solely by the highest principles of love for our fellow Jew.

Not boycott, buy-cott

On Tuesday, November 30, anti-Israel activists in New York plan to demonstrate and call for boycotts of stores that sell Israeli products aspart of the BDS campaign against Israel - Boycott, Divest, Sanction. In response, people in all locations are encouraged to take part in an Israeli product BUY-cott, and purchase Israeli goods on Tuesday (and everyday!)

(I love Jews)

Threat tests Boston Jews’ security measures

From, The Herald, Threat tests Boston Jews’ security measures

An interesting article about emergency alert coordination of Boston's Jewish community.

“We’re fortunate to live in a community where there is tremendous collaboration, cooperation and trust between the Jewish community and the government,” - JEMS founder Patty Jacobson

What Would Brandeis Do?

From Jeffery Goldberg's interview with Jeffery Rosen.

Did he get into trouble as a result? Brandeis's embrace of Zionism came only a few years before his Supreme Court nomination, and anti-Semitism certainly played some role in the opposition his nomination... Why are there no figures of Brandeis's stature who embrace Zionism with similar bravery today? ...perhaps the moral and political stakes seemed clearer in Brandeis's day than they do in ours. Brandeis thought that for Jews to be indifferent to Israel's right to exist also meant denying their own identity as Americans and Jews, and perhaps we need to remember his challenge today.