Grandma's army

  According to Moses, the real test of a nation is, not if it can survive a crisis, but if it can survive the lack of one. Can it remain strong in times of abundance and power? History teaches us that the nations that seemed impregnable in their times, all   eventually declined and lapsed into obscurity. All for the reasons which were foreseen by Moses. Moses did more than warn the people. He also showed how the danger could be averted. He spoke of the prime significance of memory for the moral health of a society. The word “Zakhor” ( remember ) is reiterated by Moses many times throughout the book of Deuteronomy. " Remember " is a "command delivered 197 times in the Bible. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote:   “It is possible to see Judaism itself as a technology of memory, a set of practices designed to make the past present.” Memory is essential to who we are as a people. It binds us to others. It helps us to know to whom we belong. And in Judaism, memory is not p...

  As proud as most Jews are of being Jewish – some find it hard to understand how someone “normal” would be foolish enough to convert to Judaism. Jews are not exactly popular – in spite of their outstanding contributions to mankind. One particular example of a convert   is Dr. Micah Goodman. His mother came from a wealthy Catholic family from Oklahoma, and converted to Judaism in an Orthodox ceremony. She married a secular Jew and immigrated to Israel with her husband, in 1969. Dr. Goodman is a successful researcher and lecturer on Jewish philosophy, and has written several books on the subject - apart from heading an Academy of Jewish Thought. His latest book, “Moses’ Final Speech”, made its way to the top of the bestseller list very quickly. He writes that the last of the five books of the Pentateuch (Torah) Deuteronomy , is the first book in the Torah that does not profess to be of divine creation, but is a repository of the insights and thoughts of Moses. In his sp...