Author: admin

(print version) Silence; so thick you could cut it with a knife. A silence of such magnitude and such power, I was sure that even the angels in heaven were standing still, in silent awe. I remember it like it was yesterday. The day after Shavuot, the festival commemorating that moment, three thousand years ago, when an entire people stood in silent awe at the foot of Sinai, when, on a road in Gush Etzion, time stopped. An innocent drive home, on a beautiful road in the mountains of Judea, suddenly cut short by the horrible sounds of gunfire. And Sarah Blaustein, of blessed memory, mother, wife, and beloved neighbor, whose life was cut short so suddenly, would never have the chance to listen to the sweet sounds of her children again. That night, ten thousand people came to the cemetery in Gush Etzion to bid her farewell. Ten thousand people make a lot of noise, but cemeteries have a way of making...

(print version) The Miraculous Power of Love The first of the Ten Commandments is: ...

(print version) Wake up an Israeli tank commander in the middle of the night and flash a picture of a BMP-1 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) at a distance of 5 kilometers, when it appears to be little more than a speck in the distance, and he will instantly recognize it as a Soviet- made troop carrier that fires armor-piercing Sagger anti-tank missiles. He will also be able to rattle off to you their effective range, and threat capacity (the amount of time it takes to aim and fire, as well as which Israeli tanks will effectively pierce). He will also know instantly that this carrier is most likely to be seen in the Syrian theater of war. The Israeli army takes the topic of enemy weaponry very seriously, and has a variety of often-sadistic methods for ensuring that its commanders become extremely proficient in this particular expertise. I remember vividly the oft-repeated ritual of testing on this topic that took place every...

(print version) Where is G-d, the Miracle Maker? People often say, ...

(print version) Are we here because we have made the right choices, or have all the right choices really been made for us? It was meant to be a routine patrol which, but for this incident, would long have been forgotten. We were on reserve duty during the Intifada (the original Intifada, back in 89...

(print version) Identity Crisis is a Gift: Awakening to the Role and Goal of Your Soul Kirk Douglas, the actor, once told me that when people compliment him on a performance, they often tell him how great he was at losing himself in the part. "You just became Vincent Van Gogh! You were so wonderful." And he answers, "No, you lost yourself in the part. I can't afford to lose myself in the part. I have to pay attention to the director, to the cues. I have to hit the mark just right so the action is in the camera frame. I must stay aware that I am an actor playing a role." A good actor plays his part, but he doesn't get lost in his part. He can't even begin to think he is the character he is playing. On the other hand, he still embraces that role with a tremendous amount of love and gives everything he's got to play...

(print version) Only a few short months had passed since his untimely death, but already, Imanuel Moreno had become a legend. A Lieutenant-Colonel and a commander in the elite Sayeret Matkal Commando unit, Imanuel was killed on a Friday night in August 2006 in heavy fighting near the Baalbeck area in Lebanon. That Saturday night, at two o clock in the morning, thousands of people came to Mount Herzl, Israel...