3 Aviv — Stop Giving Our Children to Molech
It was on this day in 1944 that Nazis raided the ghetto of Lodz, Lithuania, and removed all of its children for execution. It’s hard to imagine that there are people who could be so cold as to hurt children. But unfortunately, from the beginning, we see that the...
2 Aviv — Replace Our Stony Hearts
It was on this day in 1492 that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain signed a decree expelling all Jews from Spain giving them about five months to leave the country. This expulsion culminated on August 2nd of that same year which was, on the Hebrew calendar,...
1 Aviv — Purpose Over Pedigree
Today is the first day of the month Aviv and, according to Exodus 12, this is the first day of the biblical new year. “Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the...
29 Adar — A Place Called “Beautiful”
It was on this day in the year 1799 that, in his campaign against the Ottoman Turks, Napoleon captured the city of Jaffa or, in Hebrew, Yafo, which means, “beautiful.” The city is indeed beautiful and I have been fortunate to have visited it many times. It’s not...
28 Adar — Love Your Enemies
It was on this day in the year 163 B.C. that Antiochus V (not to be confused with Antiochus the IV of Hanukkah fame), granted freedom of religion and political autonomy to the Jews living in the land of Israel. This was to cancel the decrees of his father, who had...
27 Adar — The Furnace of Affliction
It was on this day in the year 1979 that Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt signed the peace treaty between their countries. Since that time, Israel has enjoyed three decades of relative peace with Egypt. We say, “relative peace,” because Egypt has...
26 Adar — Choose Life
It was on this day in the year 1940 that the Nazis issued an order barring Jewish physicians from treating Ayrans and Aryan physicians from treating Jews, thus accentuating the separation between the two peoples. The Nazi provocation for this was their hatred of the...
25 Adar — Babylon Resurrected
It was on this day in the year 561 B.C. that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon and the conqueror of Jerusalem, died. Years before, Nebuchadnezzar had been told by the prophet Daniel that he, and by extension Babylon, was represented in a dream by a head of gold,...
24 Adar — One In Messiah
It was on this day in the year 1451 that Pope Nicholas the Fifth issued a bull banning all social interaction between Christians and Jews. His motivation for setting this boundary was a fear that Christians would become Judaized. Indeed, any Christian who converted to...
23 Adar — A Royal Priesthood
It was on this day that two prominent events are believed to have occurred. The first is the dedication of the second Temple in 516 B.C; the second is the beginning of the consecration period for Aaron and his sons as they entered the priesthood. The latter is...
22 Adar — Beware of the Snare
It was on this day in the year 1917 that the provisional government of Russia, soon to be called the U.S.S.R., eliminated the restrictive laws that had been placed upon Jews under the reign of the Czars. This seeming tolerance for Jews enticed many of them to become...
21 Adar — Walking In Integrity
After obtaining the blessing from his father Isaac, Esau determined to kill Jacob which forced Jacob to flee from him. As he fled toward Haran, Jacob came to a place that would later be called Beth-el, or “House of God.” It was in this place that the God of Abraham...