Lately I have been pondering the failings of the Jewish forefathers. Each week, as another few chapters of the Torah (the Pentateuch) are read in the synagogue service on Shabbat morning according to the annual cycle, Jews follow the story from Creation through the emergence of the Jewish nation. Many events are sad, some are […]
IN JANUARY, German members of parliament visited us and heard Dr. Herbert Hillel Goldberg tell his life story. It was a frank portrayal of Holocaust suffering, God’s protection, and repaying evil with kindness. Also discussed was the future of German-Jewish and German-Israeli relations. Candid remarks by seven prominent MP’s from the Committee on Health reflected […]
“Out of Zion shall go forth the Torah [Law], and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:3; Mic. 4:2). When something is repeated in the Bible, according to Jewish understanding, it has special significance. The order of the Eternal to channel His directives through His “holy people…chosen…to be for Him a treasured people […]
Prophetic prognostications were hugely popular in Christian circles years ago. Bible prophecy author Hal Lindsey’s The Late, Great Planet Earth sold 28 million copies from 1970 to 1990. He predicted a Soviet invasion of Israel leading to the war of Gog of Magog depicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. In the Jewish world, too, there […]
Israel is a tiny miracle-nation. Its 9.1 million citizens have in a mere 71 years rebuilt their country into a thriving technological powerhouse at the vanguard of scientific, medical, agri-tech, bio-tech research, the envy of other states. It is generous to nations and people in need, saving thousands of lives each year. Although 2,000 rockets […]
The Middle East has been the proverbial schoolyard where for centuries the great powers have fought for control. The Americans, British, French and Ottomans have had large roles in the history of the region. More recently, two nations with huge populations, China and Russia, have been active in exerting influence in the region. Both are […]
A visit by 10 journalists from Germany on July 3 in our Jerusalem home. Deutschlandradio, Westdeutscher Rundfunk and major print media (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Der Spiegel, Stern, Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and others) were represented. The group was led by Carsten Ovens (center), Executive-Director of ELNET Deutschland (European Leadership Network). Dr. Herbert Hillel Goldberg shared […]
When Stephen Harper, 60, served as Canada’s prime minister (2006-2015), he shocked the diplomatic world with his outspoken support for Israel. That stand likely cost Canada a seat on the UN Security Council in 2010. It was a controversial stand, and not one that yielded much political capital domestically, either. Out of Canada’s population of […]
On June 20 this year, Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom (1991-2013), addressed the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords. Eloquently and in few words, the famous British theologian, author and politician drew on a great irony of modern history and warned against Europe’s rapid descent into moral bankruptcy. […]
Forty years ago, I opened a book by the Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer and was struck by a quotation from the British journalist William Norman Ewer (1885-1977): How odd of God To choose the Jews The mocking tone of the epigram seemed to suggest God had made a mistake. Schaeffer added these words, which are […]