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Rachel Edri served tea and Moroccan cookies to Hamas terrorists carrying grenades until police stormed her house in the south of Israel and rescued her on October 7, 2023. After an early-morning air raid siren, Rachel and her husband returned from a bomb shelter in her hometown of Ofakim to find a band of Hamas militants in her living room.

There is a beautiful place in the Ayalon Valley - west of Jerusalem - just 25 km away. It is called Latrun. The name Latrun may have been derived from “Le Toron des Chevaliers,” the name of a Crusader castle that once stood there. In modern times the hill is best known as the site of an important battle during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

What does it mean to be accountable, to take responsibility? Is it a Jewish imperative? Is it a secular concept? Whom does it apply to and in what circumstances?

Recently I was thinking a good deal about the fact that with so much going on in Israel, around the world and even here, in the United States, we forget to talk about LOVE. Unfortunately, we constantly worry - no wonder we are called the “anxious generation.”

Parashat Shemot, is the first parashah in the book of Exodus, whose name is also Shemot, which literally means names. In this parashah we read of the birth of Moses. Not taking anything away from Moses – or from his father, whom we’ll get to in a moment – I would like us to keep in mind that Moses’ birth, and his very survival, were made possible by a few brave and fearless women!!

Note: We have added information about how frequently courses have typically been offered in the past. However, as AJR continues to grow, the frequency of some courses might change, and this information should be used to give a general sense of how frequently you might expect a course to be offered. BIB 338 Between Read More >

Normally I look forward to my trips to Israel with much anticipation and excitement. Even following the horrific attack of October 7, and with an ongoing war, I was still looking forward to being with my people.

A D’var Torah for Parashat Hukkat By Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR ‘21) As someone who has struggled with understanding the concept of s’khar v'onesh, reward and punishment in Judaism, I find in parashat Hukkat perhaps a partial answer. Volumes have been written about what Moshe may have done wrong in this parashah, why God reacted as He did, whether it was Divine punishment and Read More >

More than 30 years ago, the award-winning Israeli novelist David Grossman wrote a children’s book, איתמר פוגש ארנב Itamar pogesh arnav, “Itamar meets a rabbit.” It’s a story about a boy named Itamar who loves animals of all kinds, except that he is terrified of rabbits.

Moses was famously close with his father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro), the Priest of Midian. This week’s Torah portion is named after Yitro, celebrating the reunion between Moses and Yitro shortly after the Exodus from Egypt.